Premier League Betting – Arsenal vs. Newcastle

Arsenal (-250) vs. Newcastle (+700) (+375)

After beating Galatasaray (4-1) in Turkey in the UEFA Champions League midweek, Arsenal will host Newcastle in the 16th fixture of the Barclays Premier League this weekend. The game will be at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, December 13, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.

Arsenal and Newcastle have gone head to head 156 times in the Premier League. Astoundingly, they are on level terms, with 62 wins each (along with 32 draws). However, Arsenal have won the last five meetings.

The moneyline for this meeting has the Gunners as heavy favorites, sitting at -250 to win, while Newcastle is at +700, and the draw +375.

Newcastle and Arsenal are neck-and-neck in the BPL table. Both teams have 23 points and identical records (6W, 5D, 4L).

While Arsenal undoubtedly gained some confidence after crushing Galatasaray, Newcastle are flying even higher; last weekend, the Magpies handed league-leading Chelsea their first loss of the season (2-1) at St. James Park. Though they are on the road this weekend – where they have struggled – Newcastle have won four of their last six outings and have proved they have the skill to compete with the best the Premier League has to offer.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said discipline was key to beating the Blues.

“It was about character and discipline against the best team in Europe at the moment,” Pardew said. “At the start we stood off them, but we stuck at it and were always a threat.”

On the other side, Arsenal have had success in the Champions League lately, but have struggled domestically, losing three of their last six games in the Premier League and falling out of the highly sought after top-four.  Last week, the Gunners fell to 13th-place Stoke City (3-2).

“There’s a lot of regrets, we had given a lot. We showed great energy levels and a great response. The spirit of the team was fantastic. Defensively we missed the start of the game. We gave easy goals away. We were not decisive in challenges. Once we were 3-0 down, we had a mountain to climb. We did climb, but a bit unlucky I must say,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after the loss to Stoke.

It’s not a solid bet, but with Arsenal struggling and Newcastle a confident bunch, the draw could be worth a look.

(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.)