SATURDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews Saturday’s games starting with ARSENAL v CRYSTAL PALACE at 12.30pm – all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ARSENAL V CRYSTAL PALACE
12.30pm The Premier League ‘Winter Break’ continues this weekend with just two fixtures on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. The Premier League have basically split the last two weekends in two so every club got a weekend off, but we don’t miss any TV games. We kick off Saturday with Arsenal hosting Crystal Palace. Arsenal come into this game as the red-hot favourites. They are currently trading 1.33 at the time of writing which is the shortest price in the Premier League this weekend – if you fancy a shock, then Crystal Palace are 12.0 while the draw is 5.9. Arsenal should have no excuses coming into this game, we’ve saw the likes of Declan Rice enjoying the golf in Dubai on his weekend off so the squad should be well rested and well prepared coming into the game. Palace had last weekend off too, but they were in FA Cup action midweek against Everton in their Third Round replay. There’s a big gulf in class between the sides here though, and anything bar a comfortable Arsenal win would be a big surprise. Arsenal need to win too; they’ve lost a lot of ground in the title race recently plus they also went out of the FA Cup as well.
After putting together four wins back-to-back in the Premier League and going top of the table, Arsenal only have one win in five. You could forgive them the loss away to Aston Villa and the draw away to Liverpool, but to lose back-to-back games against West Ham and Fulham is unacceptable if you want to be taken seriously in the title race. That has left them five points behind Liverpool starting this weekend, and three behind City – they are definitely outsiders for the title now. There’s a big difference in performance level here though. Arsenal’s average xG created this season is 1.81 compared to Crystal Palace at 1.13. That Palace figure is the fifth worst attacking figure in the league. Not only that, but it drops a little further away from home and they also concede more chances. Arsenal are only conceding an average xG of 0.83 at home this season which is very impressive – based purely on the stats, they are the best side at the back this season. They do still concede sloppy goals – but they will get away with that here against an average Palace side. Both Teams Not To Score is a very appealing bet at 1.72 – Arsenal can keep a clean sheet here on the way to winning.
The Striker Says:
Three points win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.72 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ArlCry
BRENTFORD V NOTTINGHAM FOREST
5.30pm We finish Saturday with Brentford hosting Nottingham Forest. Can we call this a relegation battle? It’s definitely a big game for both sides – both are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle anyway, if you were to say they aren’t fully in one yet. Brentford start the weekend just three points away from the bottom three while Nottingham Forest have a four point cushion. Brentford have a game in hand, while those back-to-back wins for Nottingham Forest against Newcastle and Manchester United were absolutely massive. Luton Town have put a few points on the board recently, and they have definitely given themselves a realistic chance of staying up. They are still odds on to go down though, along with Sheffield United and Burnley who have both been well off the pace this season. When Luton started winning games, I felt the only side that could take their place in the bottom three was Nottingham Forest. They hit the panic button, sacked their manager and that has worked out very well for them with those two wins. However, you’d still have to say that they are in huge danger when you look at their stats. Their average xG created is only 0.93 this season which is the second worst attacking figure in the Premier League. They’ve also had a lot of issues at the back, and when you put everything together they are in the bottom three performance level wise.
Brentford come into the game as the marginal odds on favourites. They are trading 1.99 at the time of writing with Nottingham Forest 4.2 and the draw is 3.75. Brentford were involved in FA Cup action midweek, crashing out away to Wolves. They will be kicking themselves for not taking advantage of having an extra man for over 80 minutes and home advantage when the sides first met. Brentford just haven’t been able to get over the line this season though; they’ve put together five losses in a row in the Premier League and dropped out the table like a stone. They clearly have better attacking stats than Forest, but they just aren’t getting results. They have played a very open game – at the moment they are marginally under-performing in front of goal and then conceding more goals than they should. They should win here, but it’s hard to make the case that they should be massively shorter when Forest have just beaten Newcastle and Manchester United with a new manager. We have two sides who are poor at the back here, and I feel Over 2.5 goals is worth a small bet at 1.93 in what should be an open game.
The Striker Says:
One point win Over 2.5 goals at 1.93 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/BreNtt
