Expect Walcott & van Persie To Run Riot Against Norwich

The bookmakers have been generous this weekend by pricing Arsenal as high as 1.73 to beat Norwich on Saturday.

Arsenal have won 9 of their last 11 games in all competitions, including a 1-0 win in Marseille and 5-3 victory over rivals Chelsea.

In the past, Arsene Wenger’s side have traditionally been known to under perform following international breaks and Premier League games following a midweek Champions League clash. This has not been the case in recent weeks.

After the last international break, Arsenal followed it up with a 2-1 win against Sunderland. They have also picked up maximum points following their last two Champions League games; both against Marseille. The Gunners defeated Stoke 3-1 following a 1-0 win in France, and then strolled to a 3-0 victory over West Brom following a goalless draw with Didier Deschamps’ side.

5 wins in their last 6 Premier League matches sees Arsenal 3 points off the fourth and final Champions League place. Whilst Norwich City suffered only their second defeat in their last seven Premier League matches at Aston Villa before the international break, their record is better than some of their performances.

Many fans had sympathy for their 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford at the start of October. However, this was one of Manchester United’s poorest performances of the season. They still picked up 3 points though. Three weeks later and Norwich take home a point from Anfield. Liverpool didn’t have their shooting boots on that day. The home side produced shot after shot but could not find the net on more than one occasion. Luis Suarez notably would have had a hat trick on another day. Norwich, ever so fortunate to come away with a point.

That performance was followed up with a dubious stoppage time penalty to snatch an undeserved 3-3 draw with bottom of the league Blackburn Rovers. If conceding 3 goals to Blackburn wasn’t enough, Norwich City then became only the second side, after Blackburn, to concede 3 goals against Alex McLeish’s Aston Villa. This time they were beaten.

A common denominator of these poor defensive displays from Norwich has been pacey forwards. Luis Suarez, as nifty as he is quick caused problems for Norwich, but failed to find the back of the net. Junior Hoilett put in a man of the match performance as well as scoring 1 goal for Blackburn. And just a fortnight ago, Gabriel Agbonlahor did the same thing, as well as setting up 2 goals for Darren Bent.

So what odds do we get on Theo Walcott being the man of the match? Expect to hear rave reviews from pundits after the game, and read about it on Football-Talk that same day. I’m expecting fantasy points from Walcott on Saturday.

Robin van Persie is the in-form striker in the Premier League of late. He too shall enjoy facing Norwich. The pace of both Theo Walcott and Gervinho will likely see the Dutchman setup with a number of opportunities in this match. Given that he scored three in his last away game, at Stamford Bridge, we can expect a couple at Carrow Road too.

Defensively there are some concerns for Arsenal. Both Grant Holt and Steve Morison are good in the air. Arsenal, not the best at defending crosses and set pieces. Could be a problem, but if it is I would just expect Arsenal to outscore Norwich at the end anyway. That makes for a good spectacle.

We’re on a good run with our football betting tips of late and Arsenal at an attractive price of 1.73 to beat Norwich City cannot be ignored this weekend. With Norwich failing to beat bottom of the league Blackburn in their last home game, there’s another reason I’m not expecting the Canaries to get anything from this game.

Other bets worth considering for this match:

Over 3.5 goals: 2.56

Correct score: Unquoted (either side to score 4 goals or more): 6.2

Written by Premiership Tips.