Manchester United vs Arsenal Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2012-11-03 - Manchester United vs Arsenal

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Manchester United v Arsenal
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 3 November 2012 - Kick Off 12:45pm
This game is live on TV

Manchester United

Every single Manchester United fan around the World should have been awful proud of the teams efforts on Wednesday night when they fell just short of beating what looked a much stronger Chelsea team on paper. With 10 changes made from last Sunday, United were seconds away from winning the Capital One Cup tie, but now the focus returns to the two top priority trophies in the Premier League and the Champions League.

United's 2-3 win at Stamford Bridge last weekend was the more important result for Sir Alex Ferguson and his men and that kept the team in 2nd place in the Premier League. They are now just 1 point behind leaders Chelsea and bring in a 3-0-1 record at Old Trafford where United have scored 13 goals and conceding 7.

The side had won 5 in a row in all competitions before the game against Chelsea in the Cup where they were eventually beaten in extra time. United have won back to back home games since a 2-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur here and they have won 11 of their last 13 games at Old Trafford in all competitions with the Spurs loss the sole defeat.

Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie are all expected to be restored to the starting XI having been rested on Wednesday night. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Shinji Kagawa are all still missing while Nemanja Vidic is a long term injury.

Arsenal

Arsenal were involved in an epic Cup tie during the week as they somehow recovered from 4-0 down at Reading to force extra time and subsequently win the game 5-7. While that was an impressive comeback and showed some real heart, recent performances in the Premier League and Champions League shows the task in hand for this one.

It took a late goal last weekend for the team to dispose of Queens Park Rangers at the Emirates Stadium, but the performance wasn't of the desired standard and they will need to raise their game for this one. The 3 points earned last week at least keeps Arsenal in touch with the leaders and they are 6th in the Premier League with 15 points earned. They bring in a 2-2-1 away record, scoring 6 goals and conceding 3 in those games.

The away record shouldn't be under-estimated as Arsenal have played at both Liverpool and Manchester City this season, but their last outing saw them fall 1-0 at Norwich City. Arsenal have won just 1 of their last 4 away games in all competitions in regulation time, and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in 5 away games, despite not conceding more than 1 in any away game this season so far.

Injuries continue taking their toll on this squad and the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Abou Diaby and Gervinho will be missing. Wojciech Szczesny is also absent, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should be available for selection.

Head to Head

Where else can we begin but say this is the first game at Old Trafford since the 8-2 shelling United handed out last season.

United went on to complete the League double over Arsenal when beating them 1-2 at the Emirates Stadium and will now have Robin Van Persie in the home dressing room after he scored 2 of the 3 goals last season for Arsenal.

United have now won 7 of their last 8 home games against Arsenal in all competitions and the only exception in that time was when United needed a point to win the title in 2009 and were happy with the 0-0 draw.

Prediction

I've always had my pick for this game in mind since last weekend, but I just wanted to make sure there was enough value in the pick and it turns out there is in my opinion.

I think Manchester United are the stronger team and they have the attacking options that will give Arsenal plenty of problems, but I also feel Arsenal have enough in their game to think they can trouble a United defence that has struggled for much of the season.

Unsurprisingly, United only have 2 clean sheets at home this season from 7 games in all competitions, and the likes of Stoke City and Braga caused plenty of issues and created chances in games here recently. With Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshire and Mikel Arteta, I would be surprised if Arsenal don't get on the scoreboard in this one.

That means United will need to score at least twice to win this game in my opinion and they seem happy enough playing games with the 'we will score more goals than our opposition' philosophy.

With United's recent record at Old Trafford against Arsenal and Robin Van Persie probably being particularly fired up, I did consider taking the Dutchman to continue his scoring and United to win, but that looks a touch short to me at 2.63.

Instead, I am sticking with the market that has produced considerable profits throughout this season so far and backing Manchester United to win and at least 3 goals to be scored in the game at 2.40 offered by Ladbrokes.

The Statistics :

MAN_UTD LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-10-20	W	4-2	H v Stoke_City
	2012-09-29	L	2-3	H v Tottenham
	2012-09-15	W	4-0	H v Wigan
	2012-08-25	W	3-2	H v Fulham
	2012-05-06	W	2-0	H v Swansea
	2012-04-22	D	4-4	H v Everton

ARSENAL LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-10-20	L	1-0	A v Norwich
	2012-10-06	W	1-3	A v West_Ham
	2012-09-23	D	1-1	A v Man_City
	2012-09-02	W	0-2	A v Liverpool
	2012-08-26	D	0-0	A v Stoke_City
	2012-05-13	W	2-3	A v WBA

HEAD TO HEAD MAN_UTD v ARSENAL
DATE	HOME	SCORE	AWAY
2011-08-28	Man_Utd	8-2	Arsenal
2010-12-13	Man_Utd	1-0	Arsenal
2009-08-29	Man_Utd	2-1	Arsenal
2009-05-16	Man_Utd	0-0	Arsenal
2008-04-13	Man_Utd	2-1	Arsenal
2006-09-17	Man_Utd	0-1	Arsenal