Betting Update; Arsenal v Bolton with the bookmakers making Arsenal their 8/15 favourites

Arsenal are by far and away the ‘team of the moment’ after providing their fans and the neutrals amongst us with some of the best recent games of the season so far.

[ClickPress, Fri Jan 26 2007] In the past month the Gunners have kept us on the edge of our seats in games such as the 6-3, 3-1 cup double over Liverpool, their 2-1 fight-back win over Premiership leaders Man Utd and their gutsy display to claw, bitter rivals Spurs, back to 2-2 last Wednesday.

Bolton are the visitors this time in the FA Cup fourth round and with the form that Arsenal are in thank god the Sky cameras have decided to show this one.

We could be in for another rollercoaster ride with Arsenal as Bolton have been a bit of a bogey team for them in recent years. In their last six clashes the Trotters have recorded a huge four wins and a draw, and therefore the quoted 8/15 on an Arsenal win might put people off with them preferring to opt for either the 3/1 draw or the 13/2 on a Bolton making it through.

In this unique cup competition the sides have met a total of 12 times, with Arsenal holding the slight edge with 5 wins (after 90 mins) to Bolton’s four. However, two of those meetings have been in the last two seasons so it was inevitable that they might meet again. Those two recent games have seen a 1-0 for either side and a repeat of that scoreline is Bolton 1-0 - 14/1, Arsenal 1-0 - 6/1.

In the league there is just one place separating the teams with Arsenal in fourth and Bolton in fifth, but even though Bolton have one of the best current records over the Londoners I think they will be hard pressed to continue that run. Wengers’ team have turned their new home into a bit of a fortress, being still unbeaten there in the league.

I know this is the FA Cup and anything is possible but Arsenal are now unbeaten in their last six, winning five of them. If you compare this to Bolton’s up and down form at present, including a 5-1 thrashing at Boro last week, it’s had to back Sam Allardyce’s team with any confidence.

For the visitors Anelka, with eight goals, will relish playing against his old team again and with two goals against them in this seasons league encounter he will have his followers. However, if you do fancy a Bolton goal then the midfield men, Nolan with three goals and Campo on five seem to represent better value at 5/1 and 10/1 respectively just to score.

From Arsenal expect to see a different side to the young team that held Spurs in midweek, but Wenger has picked up a few injuries in their last two games with Van Persie, Eboue and Hleb all doubtful. So he might be forced to stick with a few of the young-guns, but if we’ve learnt anything this term it’s that Arsenal’s youngsters are by far the best in the land. Rosicky, Adebayor and captain marvel Henry should all be back though to bolster up proceedings and whatever line-up the Frenchman puts out I’d still be confident of an Arsenal win.

The bet that does stand out for me, with Arsenal scoring a monster 19 goals in their last six matches is the Even money on offer for the game to have over 2.5 goals. This will be my main bet on the match, but at 6/4 Arsenal in the handicap market with a –1 start is interesting, while the half-time draw/ full-time Arsenal at 7/2 could yield a nice profit with Bolton expected to back a bold bid from the start.

• Recommended Bets - 5pts Over 2.5 goals

• Recommended Bets - 3pts Arsenal (-1 goal handicap)

• Recommended Bets - 1pt Henry to score 1st

• Recommended Bets - 1pt Half-time Draw/ Full-time Arsenal

• All prices correct at time of writing.

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