Arsenal: 2013-14 Season Preview

Arsenal’s midfield looks pretty strong in the middle with classy creative players such as Wilshere, Cazorla and Arteta but it is at the back where the problems seem to lie.

Koscielny came on leaps and bounds as a players last season and Per Mertesacker played a big part in the second half of the season push but he is all too prone to mistakes and it says something about Thomas Vermaelen’s fall from grace that he can’t get into the team ahead of him, and a strong centre back in front of the improving Szczesny would no doubt improve a defence which was already very strong last season.

Santi Cazorla will be key to Arsenal’s chances

Of course, the main talking point about Arsenal is their lack of starting strikers and whether Theo Walcott should be playing up front. Walcott scored 21 goals last season in all competitions which is an excellent return and if Arsenal don’t sign a striker he could be more than capable of stepping up anyway.

This season they will inevitably get through the group stage as winners and beat a poor group runner up before exiting in the quarter finals at the hands of a team with real class and quality.

The domestic cups are Arsenal’s most realistic chance of silverware and despite the Capital One Cup being largely ignored by Wenger over his Arsenal tenure, I’m sure Arsenal fans would love a day out at Wembley and the competition is very winnable if given enough attention.

The FA Cup is much harder to win as it is seen as a more important trophy to win and as with any cup run they would need some luck to avoid any of their rivals but once they inevitably do, it’s hard to see Arsenal beating a couple of good teams consecutively to win it.

Betting recommendations

The 11/1 on Arsenal looks ridiculously short when you consider the gulf in class between their squad and squads such as Chelsea’s and Manchester City’s, which are littered with star quality in all departments, but Arsenal do have the foundations of a very strong team, and Wenger has started to shift out deadwood such as Djourou and Arshavin but still needs a few quality players to give them the depth that other top sides have.

There doesn’t seem many bets that jump out at me wanting to back anything to do with Arsenal, but with no major transfer activity happening and other sides below them such as Tottenham doing good business I think the 5/4 with Bet Victor about them not finishing in the top 4 seem a fair bet.

I also foreshadow another tussle with Tottenham being very close again this year and theee could always be a surprise package in the form of Everton or Liverpool, which leads to a 4-way fight for the last Champions League place making the 5/4 seem attractive.

Recommendation: Arsenal NOT to finish in the top 4 – 5/4 (Bet Victor)