ALEX JONES (@AlexJ0nes9) analyses the odds as West Brom host Arsenal in Wednesday night's EFL Cup action.
West Brom vs Arsenal | Wednesday 25th August 2021, 20:00 | Sky Sports
The second round of the EFL Cup concludes with Arsenal travelling to the Hawthorns to face West Brom.
The Baggies have started the season extremely well and adapted to the change in philosophy and style under new gaffer Valerien Ismael seamlessly.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have suffered two defeats from two with neither offering a glimpse of hope for the Arsenal faithful.
The atmosphere surrounding the club and the manager is sour right now and if they were to slip to a third successive defeat at the hands of second tier West Brom you’d have to assume patience will be running thin.
Arsenal have been shortening over the course of the last 24 hours, opening near even money in the 1×2 market but have since been clipped in to 4/6. This is reportedly due to West Brom giving their key players a rest with some youngsters being given a chance.
With a chance to restore some positivity back amongst the Gunners surely Arteta must field a decent side on Wednesday evening. There could be playing time for new signing Martin Odegaard, and Alexandre Lacazette which helps explain the drift on West Brom out towards the 4/1 mark.
Despite this, I believe it’s best to swerve the outright markets in this one given uncertainty regarding Carabao Cup team news. I’d rather focus my research in the cards market, as second tier referee David Webb oversees the clash.
Webb has begun this season in fine card-flashing form, producing 24 cautions in just 4 outings. The Lancashire-based official has given Both teams over 1 card in all 4 of his matches in the EFL thus far.
Since the beginning of last season, Webb has shown both sides a card in 23/39 matches, a positive strike rate of 59%.
At odds of 4/5, this looks too good to turn down at Bet365. The whistle blower has produced a winning wager in 5 of his last 6 West Brom games. in this sample, Webb has flashed 2, 2, 1, 1 and 4 yellow cards to West Brom themselves.
In this cup competition, Webb gave both sides a card in 2/2 games last term. The last two head-to-heads between the pair, in the topflight last year, saw 3 cards in each and both sides given a caution.
West Brom picked up a fair number of cards last campaign and that has transferred to their new French boss Ismael, as the side have 7 yellows to their name already this season, with 75% of WBA games this season seeing both sides carded.
Best Bets
West Brom vs Arsenal – Both Teams To Receive A Card (4/5 Bet365)
