Betting Update; Arsenal v Slavia Prague with the bookmakers making Arsenal their 2/9 favourites

Added: (Tue Oct 23 2007)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Slavia Prague are the next side who roll into the Emirates looking to halt Arsenal’s impressive start to their season and with the Gunners already scoring 24 goals in front of their home fans, in all competitions, and a 100% winning record, the Czech sides visit couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Arsene Wenger has so far silenced his critics after plenty was written in the summer about Thierry Henry’s departure and the fact they were about to be passed in the Premiership pecking order by bitter rivals Tottenham. Far from it, his young guns have responded superbly after the experts suggested the London club would need more time to gel as a team, but as we all know Wenger’s a master at finding young talent and getting them to play and just as he did around a decade ago he seems to be building another world class team.

They are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premiership after maintaining their lead with a home win over Bolton on Saturday and Wenger has gone on record recently as daring his young side to emulate the unbeaten Premiership winning side of 2003/04 and go on to win the title.

The focus however returns to the Champions League tonight as they take on Czech side Slavia Prague, who are making their first ever appearance in the competition. The bookmakers have this down as being a stroll in the park for the Gunners at around 1/5 in the match betting, with the draw 11/2 and Slavia as big as 14/1.

The visitors are sure to be in for a tough time, but they are after all topping their domestic league with 25 points, five clear of their nearest pursuers, and recorded a decent 3-0 win at the weekend in preparation for this. They’ve also got their Champions League campaign off to a fine start with a win over Steaua Bucharest and with three points already look set to battle out the second Group H place with Sevilla; also on three points.

Slavia’s Vladimir Smicer will be the player that most football fans recognise with the former Liverpool player netting in the Reds Champions League victory back in 2005. He’s sure to figure and at around 9/1 to find the net again is bound to be a popular choice for those looking for the visitors to cause a shock.

For Arsenal they look set to be without star striker Robin Van Persie, who missed the weekend Bolton clash through injury, but with Adebayor, Walcott and Eduardo da Silva available continuing their rich scoring run shouldn’t be a problem. However, for me former Sparta Prague player Tomas Rosicky could represent Arsenal’s best chance of a goal. He found the net on Saturday after returning from injury as a substitute and against a rival team from his homeland he’s sure to be up for the clash. He’s also been on target eight times for the Gunners in this competition and with his bursting runs from midfield take the 11/4 on offer for him to score at some point.

I expect Slavia not to cause the home side too many problems so the 4/6 on offer from Paddy Power that Arsene Wenger’s men keep a clean sheet should also be snapped up. This looks cracking value, especially as the Londoners have not let the opposition score in a huge nine of their 14 games, in all competitions, so far this season.

The final bet that's worth considering is to have a small interest in the Gunners to go on and win the Champions League at around 10/1. Crazy as it might sound for such a young side and many might feel this price is a shade on the short side at this early stage of the competition, but they look to be coasting through this group and another win tonight will make it hard to believe they can't progress. With this in mind that 10/1 will vanish so you can either trade it off for a small profit, after the group stage, or even wait to see who they get drawn against in the next round with the view to the price dropping even further.

Recommended Bets - 2pts - Rosicky to score
Recommended Bets - 3pts - Arsenal clean sheet
Recommended Bets - 1pt Arsenal to win the Champions League 10/1 (with a view to trading out in the next round)

• All prices correct at time of writing.

ABOUT EASYODDS.COM

easyodds.com is a comprehensive sport betting service that helps you find the BEST ODDS on offer from leading bookmakers, betting exchanges and spread betting firms and then helps you place your bet at the BestPrice.

FREE to register!
www.easyodds.com

Andrew Newton
Managing Editor
020 7691 0660