Author: Pat

BREAKING – Arsenal striker undergoing medical

It is hardly a surprise but Arsenal now have yet another striker leaving the club in this transfer window, as it has been revealed by Belgian media outlet Het Laatste Nieuws that Chuba Akpom has has arrived at Sint-Truidense for a routine medical, before signing a contract that will keep him at the club for the next three years.

Akpom and his father were among the over-17,000 spectators that watched Sint-Truidense draw 1-1 with Racing Genk on Saturday in the Belgian First Division. They are currently in 6th place in the League and they are hoping that Akpom can score goals to help them get back into the European places.

Akpom has actually been at Arsenal for 16 years since he was 6 years old, but despite his great promise in his younger days he has only made 12 appearances for the club and only 4 in the Premier League.

But his senior performances simply never met up to his promise and there are very few Arsenal fans that will miss the youngstr. Maybe he’ll do well in Belgium.

Good luck

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Arsenal now 33/1 for title and more are betting on relegation!

52% of punters believe Arsenal could be relegated by  Tom Bloomfield

Summary:

–          52% of bets on Arsenal being relegated

–          Arsenal now 33/1 to win the Premier league

It’s not a stretch to say that the start of the season has been disastrous on and off the field for Arsène Wengers side and punters are starting to think that the worst could happen.

It’s still a huge 1000/1 best price for the Gunners to go down to the second tier for the first time since 1919, however 52% of bets placed in the Premier League relegation market since yesterday morning have been on just that.

The failed capture of Thomas Lemar provided one of the biggest talking points of Transfer Deadline Day, whilst it remains to be seen what frame of mind Alexis Sanchez is in, after failing to get the move away that he allegedly wanted.

The Gunners already have six points to make up on leaders Manchester United, and are now out to 33/1 best price to win the Premier League, despite being as short as 18/1 with one bookie yesterday. Man City remain the 7/5 favourites.

Oddschecker spokesman, George Elek said:  “It used to be unthinkable that Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal would even finish outside the Top 4, but the crisis club has some punters predicting that there is still further to fall. That over half the bets we have seen have been on a relegation for the Gunners shows just how much faith has been lost in the French manager.

Despite their fast start to the season, Manchester United are still seen to be the outsiders in the title race behind their old foe (Man City).”

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Who is betting on Arsenal to be relegated and Wenger to be sacked?

Wenger Out? Odds Tumble on Manager Being First to Leave by Thomas Matthews, Oddschecker

–          Wenger shortens from 33/1 to 8/1 to leave

–          Surge in bets for Arsenal to be relegated after loss to Liverpool

Arsenal showed faith in Arsene Wenger this summer by awarding him a new two-year contract, but the punters have begged to differ on his future after Sunday’s horror show, with odds drastically shortening after an increase in bets on Wenger to leave his position.

In the last 48 hours, bookmakers have shortened their odds for the manager to be the first to leave to as low as 8/1 (12.5% probability.)

In this period, only dejected EPL managers Slaven Bilic (8/13) and Frank de Boer (6/4) have seen more bets placed on them to depart first.

This fall in odds is symptomatic of the general malaise around the Emirates at present, with many blaming Wenger for his team’s apparent lack of desire, which was present in his side’s 4-0 drubbing by Liverpool on Sunday.

There has also been an alarming increase in bets on Arsenal to be relegated from the Premier League this season. Since Sunday, more than 60% of bets placed on teams to be relegated have been on Arsenal. They are currently as low as 250/1 to go down, falling from 1000/1 previously.

Oddschecker quote: “Although we’ve seen more than 60% of bets going on Arsenal to be relegated, it is difficult to see that scenario coming to pass. What does seem more likely is Wenger leaving before the end of the season, especially if Arsenal don’t have any further activity in the transfer window.”

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Stats say that Arsenal could have already lost the title

Here is an interesting analysis, conducted by bookmaker bwin, which reveals just how much Arsenal (sitting in 16th with 3 points from 3 games) are a club in crisis and badly need to beat Bournemouth next time out.

* Only 30% of Premier League title winners were outside the top 4 after just 5 games – no team has ever won it after being in the bottom half of the table after 5 fixtures

* Only 15% of title winners lower than 6th after just 5 games – Manchester United are the only club to achieve this feat, doing it in 2002/2003, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009
* 90% of title winners are sitting in the top 4 after 10 games – no team has ever won it after being in the bottom half of the table after 10 fixtures
* 54% of teams that are in the top 4 after 5 games finish in a Champions League spot – only 8% of teams to qualify for the Champions League were in the bottom half after 5 games

* 1% have finished in the top 4 after being in the bottom half after 10 games – Liverpool are the only club to achieve this feat, rising from 11th to 4th in 1999/2000
* 69% of teams that are in the top 4 after 10 games finish in a Champions League spot

It is also looking like it could be a very busy few days in the transfer window for Arsenal, with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez nearing the exit door and the likes of Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Lemar being lined up as potential replacements.

However, the stats show that Arsenal are playing a very risky game as leaving transfer activity so late usually leads to a drop in points and league position.

* The Premier League typically makes 24% of its signings after mid-August
* The Premier League typically completes 12% of its signings on transfer deadline day

* Only 34% of clubs who spend 75% or more of their transfer budget in August win more points than the previous season

Don’t do it on deadline day – of the clubs that made 40% or more signings on deadline day, only 37% of those score more points in their first five matches
* Manchester United made 100% of their signings on deadline day in 2013/14 and dropped 25 points that season – Manchester City made 84% of their signings on deadline day in 2012/13 and dropped 11 points that season
* Spurs are the anomaly with 60% of their signings made on deadline day last season yet they had a 16 point increase

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Inter Milan will get Arsenal’s Mustafi, but won’t pay until next summer…

It has been practically confirmed that Shkrodan Mustafi is set to leave Arsenal, and the German defender was dropped for this weekend’s demolition at Liverpool. There is little time for Arsenal to find another buyer, so it looks like the Italian giants are set to loan Mustafi for one year and agree to sign him in full next summer.

The deal will mean that Inter will pay the defender’s wages, said to be £90,000-a-week, and pay a small loan fee for this seasons agreement. Arsene Wenger will be very disappointed that he couldn’t get the cash up front to pay for new acquisitions in the next couple of days but there would appear to be no other ioffers on the table.

Mustafi only signed for Arsenal last summer with great fanfare, but having not settled in London he will now be allowed to leave and the Gunners are certain to make a loss on the deal…

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Unhappy Alexis has NOT handed Arsenal a transfer request – but will leave anyway..

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth on social media when it was revealed that Arsenal had agreed to sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Chelsea, and it was quickly compounded when another rumour spread like wildfire suggesting that Alexis Sanchez had followed that by handing in a transfer request.

It was not helped when Alexis himself posted this picture on Instagram, without any comment whatsoever…


Although Arsenal didn’t make an official announcement or denial (surprise!) it would appear that someone at the club spoke to Sky Sports and asked them to report that the rumours were false.

The Sky report said: Arsenal have denied claims Alexis Sanchez has handed in a transfer request.

One source has told Sky Sports News that the forward is unhappy at Arsenal, even more so following the 4-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool….

There is no doubt that Alexis will be even unhappier to find out that Arsenal have caved in with the Ox and allowed him to move to one of our rivals, and the Chilean will now himself push for a similar move to Manchester City, another one of our title rivals. Surely Wenger can’t justify letting one of our contract rebels leave but stop Alexis doing the same thing. As Le Prof said this weekend: “I had to deal many times in my life with big departures of big players and I always focus more on the team.

“To deal with all the rest, no matter what, Arsenal is important and the team. Of course you want to keep your best players but if it happens, you have to find a way to survive at the top level and make the team efficient.

“You don’t focus too much on individual players you focus on how the team can be strong enough to deal with what can happen.”

Expect an announcement on Alexis leaving very, very soon.

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Arsenal will have our best team out to try and conquer Liverpool

In today’s game at Liverpool, Arsenal should have a semblance of their best team out on the park for a change. Koscielny returns from suspension and Alexis Sanchez returns to the forward line, and they will both play for the first time with our new arrivals Alexandre Lacazette and Saed Kolasinac. And of course our German playmaker Mesut Ozil will also be playing at Anfield.

Kolasinac is really forward to playing with Alexis in an official match for the first time after watching him in training. “It is very important to have him back,” Kolasinac said. “He can make real difference in games.

“Alexis is a very important player for us. I have seen that in training with his presence, his speed and how easily he can go past players.

“He is important when it comes to his combinations, especially with Mesut, which looks really good in training. We are pleased to have him back and I hope he can help us as soon as possible.”

I know it’s debateable as to whether Wenger will have them all in the starting line-up, but surely in such a big game we must have all our best players ready to fight.

If that lot play to their best then we will surely have a great chance of beating the Scousers!

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Wenger hints again that Alexis will leave Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has announced that Alexis Sanchez looks fit and could be ready to play for Arsenal in today’s game at Anfield against Liverpool, but it is entirely possible that this could be the last match in the famous red and white.

This week, Wenger hinted that the Board could over-rule his decision to force Alexis to hold to his contract for the last 12 months, when he said: “Then you have a compromise to find if you can afford to do it because you lose a lot of money and at the end of the day my decision, which is purely sporting, is easy to make. I want him to stay.

“After that there is, of course, a lot of money involved as well and the club needs to make a financial sacrifice.

“Who has the final say? I have always been followed by the board, but the final say belongs to the board.

“It’s a financial sacrifice for the club and sometimes you have to calculate what you can afford and what you can’t afford.”

That could be construed as preparing us for the worst, and trying to deflect the blame for any sale onto the Board, and now he has given us another hint by saying publicly that he has had to cope with the departures of very important players before, and the important thing is to concentrate on the team as a unit rather than any individual player. He said: “I had to deal many times in my life with big departures of big players and I always focus more on the team.

“To deal with all the rest, no matter what, Arsenal is important and the team. Of course you want to keep your best players but if it happens, you have to find a way to survive at the top level and make the team efficient.

“You don’t focus too much on individual players you focus on how the team can be strong enough to deal with what can happen.”

So what do you make of those two quotes? Does this mean it is now almost certain that ‘the Board’ is going to cash in on Sanchez this week?

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Arsene Wenger very pleased at ‘nice man’ Koscielny’s return against Liverpool

Arsenal have been playing with a makeshift defence in our last two League games, so Arsene Wenger will be very happy to see Laurent Koscielny to return from his suspension against Liverpool today. Obviously he won’t be completely match fit, but surely he must do better than our current back three.

Wenger is pleased to have the ‘quiet man’ back in the squad. “He was suspended for a while and apart from Stoke we did quite well with him not being there, but of course we are happy that he’s back and available for selection again.” Le Prof said.

“He is very calm, he is more an introvert than an extrovert but still a passionate character. The fact that he doesn’t speak too much sometimes doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have inner turmoil, and that he doesn’t explode sometimes. Overall he is a very nice man but there is still a steel in him as a defender.

“He has become a French international [since he came here], a regular and that French team is built around him. Overall let’s not put him under too much pressure because it is an important game for us. On the other hand I believe you want a stable defence to go into big games so that is why you are happy that he is back.”

Yes it will be great to have him back, especially against a team that loves to attack. We could do with a calming influence at last!

Will he be enough to stop Liverpool?

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Can Arsenal destroy Liverpool’s spirits after their Champions League success?

Arsenal travel to Anfield today to try and get on track after the Gunners abysmal result at Stoke City last week, but Liverpool will be in a much more confident mood after scoring four goals against Hoffenheim in midweek to earn a place in the Champions League Group Stages.

The Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is urging his players to use that win as a stepping stone to further success, and not to get complacent. “We know this is an important part of our development. Another step,” Klopp said on the official Reds site. “Getting into the position to have the play-off was important. Winning the play-off was important. What is now important is to keep moving forward. What can we achieve next?

“Yes, I want the players to appreciate the moment – but appreciation doesn’t mean complacency. I don’t want that to satisfy anyone’s ambition. In fact it should make everyone more hungry and more greedy. To want more nights like Wednesday, more feelings like Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

“That is why, on Thursday, the attention immediately switched to today’s match against Arsenal. They will have the highest motivation to bring our spirits back down today. Our motivation to not let them do that is just as high.

“I know our supporters understand how important they are to us for a contest as intense as this one. We all go again and we go together and we look to make this a Sunday afternoon that can feel as special as a night-time fixture in Europe.

“We have shown before that we have this ability and I have confidence that everyone inside Anfield today, who cares about Liverpool FC, will do what is needed to make it the outcome.”

Liverpool should be feeling confident having lost only one of their last 15 Premier League games, and their last loss to Arsenal at Anfield was back in 2012. But can Arsenal take advantage of their euphoria to take them down a peg or two?

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