Twigs, Giggs and Silk Wearing Pigs

There’s an old Chinese proverb that wisely states, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; give him twelve cans of lager, and he’ll think that Chelsea are a decent bet at home to Arsenal.’

The Champions must be opposed at home to their title rivals.  At first glance, the sale of enforcer extraordinaire Vieira may put you off backing the Wenger boys, but surprisingly, Arsenal had a better record without him than with him last season.  The Gunners are unbeaten against Chelsea over the last 10 years in the league and the Blues looked out of sorts against Wigan last week.  Add all these factors together and the conclusion is clear; if you only have one bet this weekend, don’t be so tight.  Also, get on Arsenal at 7/2, the early contender for value bet of the season.

The aforementioned Wigan were incredibly unlucky last week, and have every chance of registering their first point of the season at the Valley.  Charlton started the season with a convincing victory, but a pig wearing silk is still a pig.  Odds of 4/1 about the away team may tempt, but the 5/2 about the draw is steam-in material.

As there were more red cards than you could shake a twig at last week, the bookies are offering prices on whether there will be a sending off in any of the four live matches this weekend.  It’s almost a pick-em scenario; 11/10 one or more red cards; 4/6 none.