Arsenal fans have endured a miserable fortnight and the “Wenger out” brigade has returned to the ascendancy after back-to-back defeats in the north west of England left their title hopes to hang by a thread. The Gunners are now nine points behind leaders Chelsea and have gone out to 12/1 fourth favourites after being 4/1 second favourites not long ago. It has been a familiar capitulation for Arsenal fans as their team led in both games only to be overhauled by second half goals. They are back at home in their next game, where they entertain West Brom and really should get back to winning ways.
It will be a welcome return to London for Arsene Wenger’s side, whose title bid looks to have once again been derailed on cold, wet evenings in the northwest, where Arsenal’s brittleness has let them down time and time again. They were 1-0 up and cruising against Everton, only to be bullied into losing 2-1, and the same thing happened against a poor Man City side last time out. Star man Mesut Ozil barely showed up in either game, Granit Xhaka looked terrible in midfield next to Francis Coquelin, while Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Alex Iwobi were mainly kept quiet. How they miss Santi Cazorla in midfield. But the biggest miss of all was Shkodran Mustafi. They have yet to lose with him on the team, and in three games without him, they have lost every time. Gabriel looks hopeless at center back, and even the usually reliable Laurent Koscielny looked horribly lethargic against City, as did Alexis Sanchez up front. It’s a busy festive period and Arsenal need to get these key men firing again, or Wenger may finally be out of a job.
West Brom are enjoying a strong season by their standards: they are up into eight positions, with a positive goal difference and as many wins as defeats. Where they have excelled is in beating the teams below them. They have Swansea, Watford, Burnley and Leicester in recent weeks, but they keep losing to the top clubs. Defeats against Man City, Liverpool, and Chelsea interspersed those wins over the relegation threatened clubs, and their 2-0 loss at the hands of Man Utd last weekend hammered the point home. That will give Arsenal encouragement, as will the way West Brom performed against Man Utd. They rolled over and had no fight, which is very rare for a Tony Pulis side. They looked to be the only team in the Premiership more out of sorts than Arsenal, and it could prove to be a slow, sluggish game at the Emirates on Boxing Day.
Still, you would expect Arsenal to win after battering Bournemouth and Stoke in their last two league games. They could well concede, thanks to the absence of Mustafi at the heart of their defense, but they really should outscore West Brom. Arsenal to win is just 1.35 with William Hill, so you could go for Arsenal and over 2.5 goals at 1.91 with Bet Stars to get more value. Arsenal and both teams to score looks another great option at 2.90 with Bet Stars as Salomon Rondon should give Arsenal’s defense – particularly Gabriel – a torrid time. But the main man could prove to be Alexis Sanchez, who was disappointing against City but rarely has two bad games in a row and looks good at 1.72 with Bet Victor to score at any time.
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