Arsenal v Wigan Tip

With three wins in their last four outings, including the most recent against Manchester United, we have to look towards Wigan for some sort of value bet on Monday night. The trouble is that a trip to the Emirates Stadium is arguably even tougher than hosting the champions. The Gunners are flying and odds of 2/7 (WilliamHill) on the home win clearly reflect that.

You could make a case for backing the Latics for three points at a best price of 11/1 with Boylesports. But when you consider that Arsenal have won all nine home clashes with these opponents, it looks less inviting. I would instead recommend a punt on Wigan to win either half at a best price of 7/2 with WilliamHill.

Although quality should tell over 90 minutes, Roberto Martinez’s side are so spirited and in form that it shouldn’t surprise us if they edge one of the 45 minute periods. The improvement in the visitors is no flash in the pan either; a run of two defeats in the last 10 suggests a steady improvement.

We shouldn’t think of Wigan as a team who can only find the odd great result at home either. They have still recorded more wins away from home (4) than at the DW Stadium (3). They also have recent pedigree for success at one of the famous grounds; a 2-1 triumph at Anfield came a recently as 24 March.

Arsenal are a superior league side to Liverpool, but that’s why we’ll only look for ‘half a surprise’ in this one. As impressive as Wenger’s boys have been lately, they did show vulnerability by losing at QPR a fortnight ago. All things considered, there’s enough there to think we’ve found a good price on something quite realistic happening.