ARSENAL host Southampton on Wednesday night. Jack Wright (@JackWright_BSB ) is on-hand to preview the match-up.
Arsenal vs Southampton | Wednesday 16th December 2020, 18:00 | Amazon Prime
With the pressure on Mikel Arteta reaching new heights, he may need only walk a few paces from his technical area to ask how to turn around a seemingly lost cause, with opposite number Ralph Hasenhuttl guiding his side to a Champions League spot a little more than a year since that infamous 9-0 home defeat to Leicester.
That may be the only act of generosity the Spaniard can expect with the Saints looking for a third consecutive win and with the possibility of returning to the top of the table.
Visiting a side who are bereft of confidence having taken just one point from the last 15 available and who have now lost three successive games following this weekend’s 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley I am shocked to see Southampton not only underdogs but available at a chunky 40/17 with SBK.
Much of the current gloom enveloping the Emirates is caused by their frustrations in front of goal, failing to score in half of their 12 league games this season including three of the last four at home with defeats to nil suffered by Aston Villa and Leicester prior to the aforementioned loss to Burnley.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored just two league goals this season, and his strike on the opening day of the season at Fulham remains his only one from open play – he is yet to find the net at the Emirates this campaign.
As a result, I am going to add a correct score selection to what would be an unwanted club record fifth straight home league defeat for Arsenal and the 2-0 away win looks a massive price at 21/1 with Bet Victor.
So, who will do the damage for the Saints? The good news for their fans is there are several threats, James Ward-Prowse seems to always impress and not only with his set piece delivery, although that is a heavy factor in his side having scored 15 EPL goals from outside the box in 2020 – 6 more than any other side.
A JWP strike from outside the box is one of my favourite selections but instead I am going to put forward the skipper assisting a goal which has odds of 9/2 with Unibet.
Both Jan Bednarek and the towering Jannik Vestergaard who I recently backed for two headers on target at 500/1 but is just 33/1 for the same here, are superb targets to have to aim for, throw in Danny Ings with Che Adams and there is ample opportunity for that assist to register be it from a set piece or open play.
As tempted as I was to play one of the central defenders for a header on target, I will instead use the aforementioned Ings and Adams for my final selection however in the popular “Return the Favour” market with Sky Bet.
Back from injury, Ings played the full 90 minutes at the weekend after a goalscoring substitute appearance in the previous game at Brighton, which was his fourth straight EPL appearance in which he found the net.
The 28-year-old has six league goals from just nine appearances while his partner Adams has four from 12 including one last time out and I can see the pairing causing this tentative Arsenal side a lot of problems with their combination of pace, power, skill and desire.
In a market dominated by the Gunners archr-ivals and in particular Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son I think it’s worth a small interest play on the Ings/Adams partnership at odds of 80/1.
Best Bets
Arsenal vs Southampton – Southampton to win (40/17 SBK)
Arsenal vs Southampton – Southampton to win 2-0 (21/1 BetVictor)
Arsenal vs Southampton – James Ward-Prowse to assist a goal (9/2 Unibet)
Arsenal vs Southampton – Danny Ings/Che Adams Return the Favour (80/1 SkyBet)
