FOOTBALL journalist Adam Goodwin (@AGJournalism) shares his verdict on Saturday's showdown between Arsenal and Burnley at The Emirates.
Arsenal v Burnley | Saturday 22nd December 2018, 12:30 | Sky Sports
After going 22 games unbeaten, Arsenal have now lost two on the bounce after their 2-0 defeat to local rivals Tottenham on Wednesday.
In the last two years, Arsenal have lost just four games at home in the Premier League (Watford, Manchester United, and twice against Manchester City), and have got a very impressive record at The Emirates.
One thing Arsenal still haven’t been able to do yet this season is be leading at half-time. In 17 games, they’ve drawn 12 and lost five at the break, and are 19th in the half-time table.
With what is likely to be a very defensive Burnley side that’ll look to frustrate, I can see this poor first-half record continuing.
Burnley
Burnley currently sit 18th in the Premier League and, bar that astonishing 4-0 defeat over Bournemouth, they’ve failed to impress so far this season.
They’ve lost every game they’ve played against the current top-10, scoring in just three of those games. They have become a lot more defensively solid, as we saw in their previous game against Tottenham, where a Christian Eriksen goal denied them a point at Wembley.
They’ll be back in North London for this one, hoping to inflict more pain on Unai Emery as the busy Christmas period commences.
The betting angle
Just like they did at Tottenham, I expect Burnley to soak up a lot of the early pressure, sit deep, and frustrate Arsenal.
Burnley have seen the majority of their goals in the last 15 minutes, and Arsenal have seen most of theirs come in the second-half, so I like the look of 0-0 half-time correct score at 61/20 with Marathon.
Somehow, Arsenal are 4/6 to be winning at half-time and full-time, despite the fact they’ve not done that yet this season. So, I’m happy to take the 7/2 available on draw half-time and Arsenal full-time with BetVictor.
Best Bets
Arsenal v Burnley – 0-0 half-time correct score (61/20 Marathon)
Arsenal v Burnley – Draw/Arsenal (7/2 BetVictor)
