Arsenal v Norwich tips: Premier League best bets and preview

Football betting tips: Premier League

1pt Over 10.5 Corners at 10/11 (Bet365)

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Arsenal’s opening weekend defeat to Brentford exposed their flaws mercilessly - fragile throughout and relying far too heavily on Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe to inspire them to victory.

Against Chelsea they were worse than second best, and against Manchester City Mikel Arteta’s men produced a performance that derogatory words hardly do justice to, shipping five goals to the champions.

Admittedly, facing the European and English champions in their opening two fixtures was hardly the ideal start for Arsenal, but the manner of the defeats is what will worry Arteta; limp, lifeless and submissive.

Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday

Arsenal 1/2 | Draw 10/3 | Norwich 11/2

In the latter two games in particular it felt almost as if Arsenal were happy to accept that Chelsea and Man City were simply better teams than them and therefore deserved all three points; a case of too much respect shown.

Given the way in which Arsenal have succumbed to defeat in their three matches this term, changing approach may come with difficulty, and here they host a Norwich side who are also in desperate need of points, but who have at least shown signs of life in their opening fixtures.

An opening weekend hammering to Liverpool was strangely reminiscent of the beginning Norwich’s last campaign in the Premier League, losing 4-1 to the Reds back in 2019/20, but the Canaries were somewhat unfortunate to be on the end of another hammering this term, arguably the better team for the majority of the first half at least, as well as creating good chances.

It is unfair to criticise Arsenal for a 5-0 shellacking at the hands of Manchester City and in the same breath excuse Norwich for the same result, there is no excuse for that kind of defeat, but they more than held their own against Leicester before the international break, creating more chances than the Foxes and losing only to a deflected Marc Albrighton goal.

There is no escaping the fact that these two teams have been far from convincing in the opening weeks of the season, and the fact that Arsenal, the current bottom placed team, who have created fewer chances whilst also conceding more than any other side in the division, are as short as 1/2 to win this match feels incorrect, but given we already have 1 point on Norwich or Draw from Monday’s Beat The Market column, it is worth looking elsewhere for value in this fixture.

Arsenal’s only home game this season saw them win nine corners, and that was against a Chelsea side who were utterly dominant in the majority of areas during the game. Arsenal also conceded eight corners in that match however, and in fact, no team has conceded more corners on average than Arsenal’s eight this season, the only team to equal that: Norwich.

• CLICK HERE to back 11+ corners with Sky Bet

Norwich meanwhile conceded a league high 10 corners in their only away match this season.

If these trends continue, a standout price of 10/11 about OVER 10.5 CORNERS appeals as very backable.

Arsenal v Norwich best bets and score prediction

• 1pt Over 10.5 Corners at 10/11 (Bet365)

Score prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Norwich (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)

Odds correct at 1600 BST (09/09/21)

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