CORNER KING Russ Butterworth (@cornerkicktips) spotted some value in Friday night's Premier League curtain-raiser.
Arsenal v Leicester | Friday 11th August 2017, 19:45 | Sky Sports
Arsenal host Leicester on the opening night of the Premier League season and predictably the prices on home team corners look tight.
The Gunners hit over six corners in 9/19 games last season so the 4/6 on offer for them to repeat that here doesn’t really appeal. You can of course point to the last two head-to-heads at the Emirates that Arsenal won 12-1 and 11-1 but at those odds, other angles have to be considered.
The home team covered the -3 corner handicap in one more game (10/19) in 2016/17 and the 11/10 (William Hill) available on a repeat looks a more attractive avenue.
Previous traits
A characteristic of the last two meetings in which Arsenal won the corner count so convincingly was that they weren’t leading at the interval.
On Leicester's last visit in April, they kept out Arsenal until an 86th minute own goal saw the Foxes lose and after coming so close to stealing a point, you can only imagine Craig Shakespeare will set his team up in a similar fashion.
The hosts only led at the break in one of their final seven Emirates outings in 2016/17 and the longer the Foxes can keep them at bay, the more likely Arsenal are to be applying pressure and forcing corners.
Betting options
So, if you think Leicester can get through to half-time without going behind, not only do you get better odds, but the likelihood of the -3 handicap being covered increases too.
Arsenal -3 corners and Leicester half-time double chance is priced up at 27/10 with Bet365 but if you feel even braver, Arsenal -3 corners and the 0-0 half-time correct score is available at over 6/1 with the same firm.
That said, my recommendation for the game is the straight Arsenal -3 corner handicap. SkyBet have priced this bet up at 10/11, and I think the odds with William Hill offer some value.
Best Bets
Arsenal v Leicester – Arsenal -3 corner handicap (11/10 William Hill)
