West Brom v Arsenal: Pulis’ approach makes Gunners cracking value

They’re sitting comfortably in eighth place in the Premier League, despite plenty tipping them to go down at the start of the season. But despite being right on course to achieve their best points tally in the top flight, there’s still plenty of room for improvement in West Bromwich Albion’s game.

And that’s something Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side should look to take advantage of in the weekend’s early kick-off.

Remarkably, of the 40 points the Baggies have picked up so far this season, only one of those has come against a side currently above them in the division right now.

In the nine games they’ve played against the current top seven this campaign, they’ve lost eight and drawn just one – scoring a mere three goals and conceding 20 in the process.

Their approach against the top teams just isn’t working, but it’s one which Pulis has stuck to – and to be fair to the Welsh boss, it has almost paid off on a couple of occasions.

Whether they’re playing at home or away, Albion will set out to frustrate their opponents. What they can’t afford to do is concede an early goal – if that happens their plan suddenly goes out the window.

They conceded in before the 20-minute mark against both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City and went on to lose both games 4-0 – although both Chelsea and the Gunners have had to rely on late goals to beat Pulis’ men 1-0 this campaign.

In short, if Arsenal fly out of the traps, they could finish the game off with relative ease.

Fancy Wenger’s side to do exactly that? Then here are our top three bets…

Arsenal to be winning after 30 minutes @ 15/8

Half-Time/Full-Time: Arsenal/Arsenal @ 13/8

Arsenal -3 @ 12/1

However, not every home fan will head into this one feeling pessimistic.

Granted, the Baggies have lost their last two games against Crystal Palace and Everton without scoring. But more often than not – certainly at the Hawthorns, they’ve at least found the back of the net.

In seven of their last eight meetings with the north London outfit in the Black Country, the hosts have scored.

And psychologically, Chris Brunt and co head into this fixture against a side incredibly low on confidence – having lost five of their last eight games in all competitions.

And Gooners will remember what happened the last time their side came to the Hawthorns – they lost 2-1, despite taking the lead through Olivier Giroud.

Fancy a repeat of that? Here are our top bets if you’re siding with the hosts in this one…

Both teams to score @ 8/11

West Brom 2-1 Arsenal @ 12/1

West Brom to come from behind and win @ 20/1

Click here for a full list of West Brom v Arsenal odds.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing