Sporting Life's preview of West Brom v Arsenal, including best bets and score prediction

West Brom v Arsenal betting tips: Carabao Cup best bets and preview

By Jake Pearson

Football

Wed August 25, 2021 · 4y ago

Arsenal travel to West Brom for their Carabao Cup second-round tie, and Jake Pearson has picked out a couple of best bets.

Football betting tips: Carabao Cup

1pt Arsenal to score Over 1.5 Goals in 90 minutes at 11/10 (Paddy Power)

1pt Over 4.5 corners in the first half at 10/13 (bet365)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

The second round of the Carabao Cup sees the meeting of two sides who have made contrasting starts to their respective seasons, West Brom unbeaten in the Sky Bet Championship, collecting 10 points from a possible 12, while Arsenal are yet to score, never mind win a game, in the Premier League.

The Baggies have been relentless going forward in their opening four matches, scoring 11 goals while averaging 2.65 expected goals (xG) per game.

CLICK HERE for West Brom's Infogol profile

A statement 4-0 victory over also-relegated Sheffield United demonstrated just how high up the pecking order Valerien Ismael’s team are in terms of the race for promotion, while a convincing victory (xG: BLA 1.30 – 4.20 WBA) over Blackburn at the weekend only furthered their credentials.

Kick-off time: 20:00 BST, Wednesday

TV channel: Sky Sports Football

West Brom 14/5 | Draw 13/5 | Arsenal 19/20

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This then could prove a tricky tie for Arsenal, who have not only failed to pick up a point as of yet this season, but have also produced a couple of woeful performances, unable to deal with the physical threats posed by both Brentford and Chelsea.

Indeed, a Carabao Cup tie against a technically adept, but also physically strong West Brom side is hardly the ideal match for Mikel Arteta’s men ahead of their trip to the Etihad at the weekend, but it also presents an opportunity for the Gunners to redeem themselves somewhat.

Few people expect Arsenal to beat Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, perhaps that even includes the Gunners manager, and there is reason to believe that defeat against West Brom would be even more damning to his chances of remaining at the helm of the club than defeat in Manchester would.

With that in mind then, surely Arteta must field a relatively strong team at the Hawthorns, and to the credit of Arsenal, unlike other clubs, they do tend to take cup competitions seriously.

The Gunners have won four of the past eight editions of the FA Cup, whilst also recording three quarter-finals and a runner-up finish in the last five Carabao Cup campaigns.

WHAT IS EXPECTED GOALS? USE xG TO INCREASE PROFITS IN FOOTBALL BETTING

Back Arsenal to bounce back

If either of these two sides could do without the extra games that a Carabao Cup run brings it is West Brom, and though the Baggies will be desperate not to forsake any momentum, Ismael could ring one or two changes for this fixture.

Despite the attacking threat West Brom pose, defensively they have been far from convincing so far this term, conceding five goals from 4.6 expected goals against (xGA).

While the result against Brentford was poor from an Arsenal perspective, the Bees are a good defensive outfit, as are Chelsea, but against West Brom the Gunners should create chances.

Given the Baggies could easily get on the scoresheet themselves however, the need to score more than once could be great for Arsenal.

Initially it may seem folly to back a team that are yet to score this season to net more than once in one game, but a price of 11/10 for ARSENAL TO SCORE OVER 1.5 GOALS in 90 minutes does make appeal.

CLICK HERE to back Arsenal to score 2+ goals with Sky Bet

A second angle worth exploring is the corner market, and specifically the value in backing OVER 4.5 FIRST HALF CORNERS.

No team conceded more corners in the Premier League than West Brom last season, the Baggies averaging more than seven corners against per game, but this season, Ismael’s men lead the way in corners won in the Championship.

Arsenal were only eighth in the corner table last season, but this term only three sides can better the 14 corners they have won across two matches; the Gunners actually winning more than Chelsea on Sunday.

With a fast start to the game anticipated, there could be plenty of first-half goal-mouth action, which should lead to early corners. The price about five or more first-half corners should be much shorter than 10/13.