EPL Betting – Arsenal at Newcastle
Arsenal (-175) at Newcastle (+450), Draw (+300)
The 2015-16 season is supposed to be Arsenal’s return to glory. But, early in the year, the Gunners haven’t lived up to expectations, already sitting five points back of Premier League-leaders Manchester City after just three fixtures. This Saturday, Arsene Wenger’s squad will visit Newcastle at St. James Park (7:45 AM Eastern) in desperate need of the full three points.
Arsenal started the season with an embarrassing 2-0 home loss against West Ham, despite being massive favorites. They bounced back with a win over Crystal Palace, but then were outplayed badly by Liverpool – again at home – and were fortunate to escape with a scoreless draw.
Wenger acknowledged that his team is not performing up to their potential. “We have started very average I must concede,” the manager told the BBC. “Sharpness is missing a little bit in some players.”
But the German insists that Arsenal will show their best side against difficult opponents.
“Our performance level has grown over time. Our defensive organization is good against big teams”, he added.
But the critics still abound, noting that Arsenal look both uninspired on offense and vulnerable on D.
For Arsenal, the meeting with Newcastle can’t get here fast enough. The Gunners have dominated the Magpies in recent meetings, winning five straight while outscoring Newcastle 11-2.
Losing has become a bit of a habit for the Magpies. New manager Steve McClaren is doing his best to change the culture of the team, but it hasn’t come to fruition yet, as Newcastle has yet to win through the first three games, earning a single point against Southampton and Manchester United, while losing to Swansea.
McClaren has a lot of work to do to fix the myriad problems at Newcastle, and Arsenal’s talented roster will eventually start to coalesce. Take the Gunners to win, but don’t expect a lopsided affair.
Pick: Arsenal (-175).
(Photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom (Mesut Özil Uploaded by Dudek1337) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
