One of the easiest mistakes you do when trying to place a winning bet is to be fooled by big names. I mean, Arsenal who just beat Real Madrid with 3-0 in the Champions League quarterfinals are now facing Brentford... Of course they will win... Or will they really? This is a perfect example of how, just by looking at the fixture the brain decides the outcome without any deeper thought. Of course there are a lot of things that speak for Arsenal, but quite a few that speaks against as well. This time I will commit one of the deadly sins of betting expertise when giving my suggestion.
This season of the Premier Leagues is totally packed with London derbies, and tonight there is yet another coming up. Arsenal is inviting their annoying little brother to Emirates for what I believe will be a tough battle. Why are Brentford annoying? Of course they aren’t, except to all the supposedly bigger and better teams they have stolen points from. Something which has become almost a rule more than an exception lately.
Arsenal will be coming to the game full of self confidence and maybe even a bit of megalomania after the superb dismantling of Real Madrid earlier in the week. But they also come with quite a decimated squad. For certain Havertz, Magalhaes, Jesus, Calafiori and Tomiauzy are unavailable, and by the looks of it, both Saka and Rice are very uncertain for tonight. This puts quite a heavy lid on the excitement for Arsenal fans. Brentford has quite a bit of worries on their end as well, Carvalho, Thiago and Dasilva are confirmed as unavailable. On top of that Hickey and Nunes are in doubt when it comes to starting positions. But they still have that unnerving ability to hurt the bigger boys. And in a match like this, they also have nothing to lose – I mean, who would demand that they should outgun Arsenal, the team that just demolished Real Madrid...? That’s a nice and comforting feeling to have when entering the pitch. Conclusion. Arsenal has a good record against Brentford, three consecutive wins and normally with a team less hurt by injuries, they should be able to add yet another game to their winning streak. But something inside me tells me that they might be taking this one a bit too lightly, which is always punished by the football gods. If Arsenal doesn’t get a flying start, worries will start spreading in the team and to the bench. So, coming back to the deadly sin for a betting expert, you just never ever predict a draw. You just don’t. But that is exactly what I will do this time. Brentford leaves Emirates with at least 1 point.
