Premier League 3pm Kick-Offs: Gunners a solid bet to improve Britannia record

Will the Gunners shoot down Stoke at the Britannia Stadium?

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham are amongst the teams in action on Saturday afternoon, and here our man Mike Norman previews all the 3pm kick-offs featurning those sides...

Hull 2.56/4 v West Brom 3.211/5; The Draw 3.412/5

If there is ever to be a game where you find it impossible to make a strong case for either side then this surely is it.

Hull, with the lowest points tally of any Premier League club in the whole of 2014 and without a win in seven games, host West Brom, four straight defeats and just two points above the relegation zone. Neither side are playing well, both will be low on confidence, and I dare say both will be desperate not to lose this one.

Your guess is as good as mine in terms of the Match Odds market - you really wouldn't be surprised however it ended up. So with the help of a few Opta stats, let's make Under 1.5 Goals our tentative selection.

The Baggies have scored just five goals in their last 11 Premier League away games - at an average of 0.45 per game - and never more than once in this run, while The Tigers have scored a miserly two goals in the last six league outings.

Recommended Bet
Back Under 1.5 Goals @ 3.259/4

Liverpool 1.538/15 v Sunderland 7.613/2; The Draw 4.57/2

I thought Liverpool were extremely short at 1.758/11 last week at home to Stoke, and anyone laying the Reds at that price had ample opportunity to lock in a profit before they won late in the game, as they were matched at 5.24/1 In-Play to take all three points.

So as you can imagine, following Sunderland's superb defensive display against Chelsea last weekend, I'm not at all interested in backing Liverpool at just 1.538/15.

Do I think they'll win? Yes I do, and of course, the Black Cats have since been thrashed at home to Man City while Brendan Rodgers' men made it back-to-back wins in midweek. But it's still difficult to have huge confidence in this Reds side at present and I'm happy to look elsewhere for a wager.

Much was made of Steven Gerrard's omission against Stoke, and the Liverpool captain responded magnificently when recalled to the side against Leicester on Tuesday night. He might just have a spring in his step right now, so at 3.02/1 to back in the To Score (at anytime) market he is the selection.

Recommended Bet
Back Steven Gerrard To Score @ 3.02/1

QPR 2.1211/10 v Burnley 4.03/1; The Draw 3.613/5

With QPR's away form being, to put it politely, dreadful, then Harry Redknapp's men must make hay at Loftus Road against the lesser lights of the Premier League.

To their credit, barring their opening day defeat to Hull, that's exactly what they've been doing. They've taken 10 points from their home games against Sunderland, Stoke, Aston Villa, and Leicester which is a good sign that the Hoops are winning the games that matter most.

Saturday's home fixture with Burnley is, for the second week running, QPR's biggest game of the season so far, and you have to fancy them to win it.

True, the Clarets are on a good run themselves, not losing in four games, but three of those were at Turf Moor and the side they beat away from home - Stoke - have been in and out at the Britannia Stadium this term.

But the clincher for me is QPR's ability to score goals at Loftus Road. They've scored at least two in all of their last five matches in front of their own fans, two of those games were against Liverpool and Manchester City, so you really have to fancy them to keep the goalscoring form up here. If they do, then they'll win.

Recommended Bet
Back QPR to Win @ 2.1211/10

Stoke 4.1n/a v Arsenal 2.0421/20; The Draw 3.65n/a

Arsenal have a relatively poor recent record at the Britannia Stadium - Opta tell us that they've won just one of their last eight visits there - but I'm quietly confident that they will have a slightly better one come Saturday evening.

The Gunners haven't been sensational this season by any means, but they've been disrupted by lots of injuries meaning in recent games they've had to win the hard way. And that's what they did at West Brom last Saturday and at home to Southampton in midweek - two wins without conceding (three including their win over Borussia Dortmund) is exactly what the doctor ordered.

In Alexis Sanchez - 14 goals already this term - they have an outstanding player in great form, and with Olivier Giroud fit again Arsene Wenger's men are starting to look dangerous.

What's more, they have an outstanding record away to clubs in the bottom half of the table, winning 18 of their last 24 such games. They rarely lose this type of fixture.

Stoke haven't been as formidable as they have been in recent seasons at the Britannia, already losing to the likes of struggling Aston Villa, Burnley, and Leicester this term. Mark Hughes' men have lost three on the spin now, and with Arsenal starting to find the winning touch I'm expecting Stoke's losing run to stretch to four games here.

Recommended Bet
Back Arsenal to Win @ 2.0421/20 (best bet)

Tottenham 1.625/8 v Crystal Palace 6.611/2; The Draw 4.216/5

Tottenham had won six of their previous seven games in all competitions prior to their defeat at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, so they are starting to find a bit of form even if their performances at White Hart Lane have been disappointing this term.

There was nothing wrong with Spurs' performance on home soil last Sunday however, they were excellent in beating in-form Everton and a reproduction of anything like that effort should see them beat Palace.

The Eagles are difficult to predict; they followed their superb win over Liverpool with a draw at Swansea, but then they surprisingly lost at home to out-of-form Aston Villa in midweek. So I think it's best we concentrate on the Goals markets for this encounter.

I marked Palace down right at the start of the season as a team to follow in terms of Over 2.5 Goals, and they've delivered a lot of times on that front. Spurs meanwhile are on a run of seven consecutive Premier League games that have witnessed at least three goals so logic tells us that backing that option again has to be the call.

Recommended Bet
Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.845/6

Premier League 2014/15 Season P/L

Staked: 70 pts
Returned: 67.68 pts
P/L: - 2.32 pts

*based on 1pt each bet, 2pts best bet