Benefit from lack of goals

Only one of Arsenal’s past six fixtures have featured more than two goals and that trend can continue when they play away to Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Gunners are generally 4-6 to beat a Hull team who have gone off the boil in recent weeks but Arsene Wenger’s men have themselves lacked conviction and so a wager on the match featuring no more than two goals looks a safer bet. Most firms offer 10-11.

Arsenal, depleted by injuries to such as Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and William Gallas, have needed late goals to beat Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers at home in their past two league matches and some of their efforts on away soil this campaign point to them being unreliable as a being proposition.

Visits to Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke, Manchester City and Middlesbrough - where they were favourites to win on each occasion - have yielded only two points.

Then, of course, there have been slip-ups at home, including when losing 2-1 to Hull at the Emirates in September.

Hull were 20-1 that day but proved it was no fluke by winning their next three matches, too. However, since then, Phil Brown’s side have won only one in 12 and four successive defeats means that the price on them being relegated has tumbled from 10-1 to 3-1.

On the plus side, Hull, 5-1 to do the double over Arsenal, probably deserved a point from their latest home game against Aston Villa. That match looked like finishing goalless until Kamil Zayatte netted a late own goal.

A similar contest could be on the cards on Saturday, with the 12-1 that Bet365 quoting against no goalscorer (own goals do not count) worth a second look.

Comments

[Jonesy]

Eduardo scored 3 in a reserve game last night and could be a bet for a position on the bench. Probably won't be risked so soon after his horrific injury but his presence at the very least could push the other strikers to force the issue more so than in recent weeks. This is the game that could get the confidence back after recent 1-0 struggles. I reckon they could be good for 3.