Paul Higham has a 9/1 player props double for a pair of Gunners as they visit Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Thursday.
Manchester United are not quite starting the Ralf Rangnick era yet as he awaits a work permit, but the players will all still be keen to impress their new boss as they take on Arsenal on Thursday night.
Michael Carrick will continue in interim charge until the full-time interim manager (confusing isn’t it?) gets his foot in the door at Old Trafford, and he’ll hope for another positive result after their draw at Chelsea.
It was a backs-to-the-wall defensive display at Stamford Bridge, and the Old Trafford crowd will want a lot more attacking intent in a clash with their fierce old rivals – although fifth v eighth with Arteta and Carrick in the dugout isn’t exactly Wenger v Ferguson challenging for the title like the good old days!
Man Utd have just two wins in six at home this season while Arsenal have scored just three in six away games so we’re not expecting too many goals, but it’s intriguing stuff nonetheless.
For us here though, we’re always looking for play props when we can get them, and there’s a couple of prices that stand-out for me when thumbing through all the stats.
Young Gunner Emile Smith Rowe is one of my personal favourites, and he’s still a value play for a shot on target, as he is in most games as he retains his price of around 2.01/1 just to hit the target once, despite being prolific in this category.
The 21-year-old has played in 15 games for Arsenal this season and hit the target in 12 of those – with his failure in 71 minutes against Leeds being the only real bad result in this market as the other two blanks came against Man City and Liverpool away.
Arsenal barely had a kick in those games and he spent most of the game at Anfield chasing Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold so you can hardly blame him for that.
Arteta has been playing defensively away from home and in big games for Arsenal this season but the Gunners managed five shots with three on target even with just 37% of the ball against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
They should have more of the ball at Old Trafford and if Arteta realises that this Man Utd side currently are nowhere near a Liverpool or Man City then the Gunners could be in business.
The second price I like here is the 4.67/2 on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to get booked for what would be the fourth time in the Premier League this season.
The three yellow cards he’s received aren’t a lot, but when you see that they’ve all come in his last five games then there’s a trend developing that he’s very much putting himself about a lot more for the Gunners.
Throw in a big game at Old Trafford – where he was booked in his last game there – and the ingredients are looking good. Throw him in a Bet Builder double with Smith Rowe hitting the target for a nice price of around 109/1.
Source: BetFair Tips
