Valencia knew they were up against it in London last week but didn’t expect to see Arsenal – a side struggling for form domestically – play so well. The Spaniards suffered a 3-1 defeat in London and although they were able to grab a valuable away goal on the night, keeping them alive in the contest, they are staring at elimination, unless they can turn things around in front of their own fans. It’s time for round 2… here are our top Valencia v Arsenal betting tips.
An In-Depth Look at the Match
Despite being well beaten on the night, Valencia did take the lead at the Emirates with Diakhaby scoring inside 11 minutes to silence the home support, giving his players the chance to hold on for a narrow away win. They couldn’t manage it, of course.
Lacazette scored the first of his two goals last week on 18 minutes to quickly restore calm to the ranks and he gave his employers a lead when doubling up on 25. It was left to Aubameyang to grab a vital third for Arsenal and that will make all the difference. They now have a decent advantage, whereas 2-1 at home would’ve been a bit of a disaster.
Valencia ended that game with just 42% of the match possession but they did create 10 goal scoring opportunities and held their own in north London. If they are able to build on that they can make things interesting here, especially if they can score another early goal. The home win is 5/6 favourite at Bet365.
Gunners Stumbling to a Finish
Arsenal may have been impressive that night, firing back from a goal down to win the match so convincingly, but they have been less than impressive in the Premier League and now look set to miss out on the Champions League, which would be a real blow for their budget next season. To gain automatic entry into Europe’s elite, The Gunners must win on Sunday and see Tottenham suffer a convincing defeat. That’s possible, but it’s not the position they’d choose to be in if given the option. One point from the last 12 available means they only have themselves to blame.
Three defeats had fans up in arms before battling to a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Brighton at the weekend. That share helped steady the ship, but it goes down as another painfully poor performance, The Seagulls stuck at the wrong of the division and rating as a team Arsenal really should be beating with a bit to spare. Aubameyang continued his goal scoring ways with an opener on nine minutes and it looked from there like Arsenal would open up and secure an emphatic win.
It didn’t go to plan, however, Murray scoring an equaliser from the penalty spot on the hour. The Gunners finished that match with 20 shots at goal and eight on target but failed to secure a 21st win of the season, something that caused fans to vent their anger. Arsenal are 11/4 with Bet365 to win in Spain. A nice price, but we don’t expect them to achieve that.
Stats Give Us a Nice Bet
The stats make for interesting reading when working through this match. Arsenal and Valencia have met no fewer than six times in the past and last week’s win for the Londoners means the head-to-head spread is now even, standing at two wins for each and a couple of draws.
Both teams have scored in each of the last two meetings, a 2-1 win for Valencia in the Champions League 2003 followed by that Europa League cheer for Arsenal. Take both teams to score again in your accumulators at 4/7 – market best price with bet365. That makes more sense than no at 5/4 with the same bookie.
The team playing at home have won never lost this fixture and that pushes us towards a bet on a nice priced selection for interest stakes. With Arsenal not needing to win after giving themselves a two-goal cushion, and the Spaniards priced as favourite, we’re off into the specials where a strong case can be made for both teams to score in a Valencia win. That has been priced up at 23/10 – market best price when taking advantage of 888sport’s generosity.