Will Arsene Look to End the Tie in the First Leg?

Arsenal travel to Ipswich in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final and many observers are expecting a thorough victory for the Gunners. Arsenal’s price was shortened in the outright 90 minutes market overnight from a 2/5 listing down to 1/3. Paul Jewell has been confirmed as the Tractor Boys’ new manager but he will be watching this one from the stands.

The fixture couldn’t come at a worse time for Ipswich Town, as they were on the receiving end of a 7-0 drubbing from Chelsea- a team who, let’s face it, have been playing utter dross as of late. For Chelsea to put that many past Ipswich, you reckon we can get four or five here unless they step it up and really give us a game.

There isn’t much value in backing Arsenal outright so punters looking to stay out of the goalscorer markets would do well to back Arsenal/Arsenal in the half-time/full-time market at 5/6. You can also get a 5/6 price on Arsenal (-1.0) and that will likely be a very popular pre-match selection.
In a match where Arsenal are expected to grab more than a few goals, the anytime goalscorer market can be a gold-mine for punters who get it right.

The short-priced scoring favourites are, unsurprisingly, Marouane Chamakh and Robin van Persie at 4/5 anytime while Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas share a 7/5 listing. Andrei Arshavin and Theo Walcott can be backed at 13/8 but the best option in a match like this is to go for the enhanced value on goals coming from more defensive players. Alex Song looks a stand-out at 6/1 and, if he gets the start, could really be a factor if he gets plenty of room to operate. We could even see Emmanuel Eboue get up and contribute here, especially if the score-line starts to get out of hand.

Winning this one emphatically would give us an opportunity to rest some key players in the return leg at the Emirates and you can expect Arsenal to try to kill this one off quickly.