Blog

Both teams to score – a punter’s favourite

With the season over we decided to take a break from our usual coverage and look at one of our favourite bets ahead of the World Cup, both teams to score.

The proliferation of online sports books that are now dominating areas of the internet has changed many aspects of our betting lives. Beyond simple score-draw selection and selecting the winning side in any contest, a great number of ‘other’ bets are available that eager football bettors can take advantage of.

Arsenal News

Is Fellaini the Answer?

Every summer, the transfer window rolls around and pundits discuss the areas of the Arsenal team in dire need of improvement. Every year, the defensive midfield positions are identified as a key area of weakness within the Gunners’ squad. And, every time, Arsene Wenger has failed to address this issue. Now that Unai Emery has taken over in the hot seat, will this close season be a different story? Arsenal are in need of big changes, and this gaping hole needs plugging immediately.

Unfortunately for the new boss at the Emirates, he will be expected to make the best of the summer transfer market with a limited budget of around £50 million according to The Telegraph. In the current climate, this is the kind of money that Premier League contenders are spending on singular players. Rebuilding a squad that is riddled with problems on this allowance will be nigh on impossible. With that in mind, Emery needs to play the market cleverly and look to bring in some bargains.

Arsenal News

Arsenal embrace change

Arsenal football club have long been one of the game’s more progressive clubs, with Arsene Wenger rightly hailed as one of the key catalysts involved in modernising the English Premier League in line with the rest of Europe.  When he first came in, Tony Adams et al were having daily beer binges straight after training, before eating a kebab, smoking a few cigars, and grabbing a few hours sleep ahead of the next dya’s training, when the whole cycle repeated itself.

Fast forward just a few years and he had turned the team into a bunch of professional athletes – actually caring what went into their bodies, and turning to chicken and pasta, and abstaining from alcohol to maximise results on the pitch!

Arsenal News

Arsenal suffer scare against CSKA

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that his team struggled against CSKA Moscow and was in danger of conceding another goal that would have eliminated them on aggregate. He said that his players were surprised by the intensity of the game and that they struggled at times to cope with the energy and determination shown by the Russian player.

At times CSKA looked like one of the top Spanish teams like Barcelona and Real, with their passing somehow bypassing Arsenal’s midfield with relative ease. Arsene Wenger said that it was a difficult game for his players and that he is proud of how they have managed to come back into the game. He said that the second half was much easier for his players as they successfully raised their game to cope with the intensity of the CSKA Moscow players.

Arsenal News

Sanchez Departure Could Provide Arsenal with Better Balance

Make no mistake, Alexis Sanchez is a fantastic footballer. One who has been coveted by the best teams in the world ever since he caught the eye with his performances for Udinese and the Chile national team prompting a move to Barcelona back in 2011. And it could be argued that Arsenal have seen the very best of that talent having signed him as a 25-year-old back in 2014. A haul of 80 goals in 165 appearances for the Gunners certainly backs up this claim.

As a result, his departure to a Premier League rivals may seem a little absurd. However, as the 29-year-old Chilean follows Theo Walcott out of the door at the Emirates, two more players still in the prime of their careers will arrive. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are not only talented and at the right age but they have also played together before – to great effect.

Arsenal News

Vieira: The Pretenders and Contenders to his Throne

July 2005. The month and year that Patrick Vieira left Arsenal to join Juventus. The deal was a reported £13.75m and left many Gunners’ fans in shock. The central lynchpin of the Invincible team had been cast aside with no replacement seemingly on the way.

For many, the Frenchman’s departure is a symbol of everything that followed for Arsenal over the next 12 years. A dominant, all-round midfielder who was a genuine leader. Gone. The Arsenal midfield hasn’t been the same since. Of course, it’s not quite that simple. To suggest Vieira was never replaced is a little misleading. In the last 12 years, Arsenal have had a selection of world-class midfielders, albeit of a different ilk from the towering Frenchman.

There is no doubt that Arsene Wenger has made more than a few questionable decisions during his reign. But blaming him for not replacing Vieira with a like-for-like player somewhat misses the point. The root of Arsenal’s failings in the league and Champions League stem further than a lack of leaders.

Arsenal News

WALCOTT HEARTFELT LETTER TO ARSENAL FAN

Gunners winger passed on his condolences to some loyal Arsenal supporters following the death of their child, whom they had named after the Arsenal star, Theo.

Walcott and the club were widely praised online and in the media when it emerged that Walcott had sent a heartfelt letter to some grieving parents following the death of their son, who was named Theo in recognition of the Arsenal star.

Blog

What now for Wilshere?

Traditionally, the January transfer window is a quiet time in terms of player trading, but all that can change when a major tournament is on the horizon. We’re heading into World Cup year and those who are on the fringes of their national squads are eager to get as much game time as possible in order to increase their chances of making the plane.

One of those players is Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. Back to fitness after a catalogue of injuries, the midfielder continues to be overlooked by Gareth Southgate as younger, untried men are used in Wilshere’s preferred slot. A move away from the Emirates is a possibility but given Arsenal’s mixed start to the season, Arsene Wenger should really be looking to bring this considerable talent back into the fold.

Aims

Transfer News

Anticipating Arsenal’s January Transfer Window

It seems like the dust has only just settled on the ‘will they, won’t they’ speculation regarding Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil leaving Arsenal in the summer. Yet, here were are less than two months before the January transfer window opens, and Arsenal fans are getting ready to jump back on the emotional rollercoaster ride.

It’s not just the future of Arsenal’s two best players that will be on the agenda in January; there are still questions at large regarding squad improvement. With Arsenal constantly one poor result away from a crisis, Wenger will have his work cut out for him early next year. Can he successfully navigate the January window and give Arsenal the best chance of finishing in the top four?