The match stats team at bettingexpert pored over the recent history of league contests between Arsenal and Watford – who meet at Vicarage Road on Saturday – and discovered that, while the Gunners secured a 3-0 win in the corresponding fixture last term, all of their goals came in the second half.

Bet365 offer 13/10 about the opening period ending with honours even on Saturday (kick-off 3pm), while William Hill chalk 9/4 against the first half finishing goalless.

Arsenal completed a league double over the Hornets last season and, although they’re the away team and enduring a frustrating start to the league campaign, Marathonbet have had little reason to doubt their decision to install the Gunners as 3/4 jollies to take three points.

Watford were unlucky to concede two late goals and end up empty-handed against Chelsea at the weekend, but the Hornets’ Etienne Capoue was on target for the second game in a row and Paddy Power consider the chances of him finding the net at any time on Saturday a 12/1 shot.

Neither side are firing on all cylinders at the moment and a number of punters suspect that a low-scoring draw could be on the cards.

A goalless encounter – which is rated an 11/1 shot by Ladbrokes – has found favour with punters, while the 29/10 posted by Betclic against the draw has also been well backed. In other markets, Titanbet offer even money about the match yielding fewer than 2.5 goals.

It seems that if we’re going to see a winner, it probably won’t be by a significant margin; punters who concur might be persuaded to run the rule over Betfred’s 7/1 for the Gunners to secure a 1-0 victory, while Watford’s price to achieve the same result is double that of Arsenal (14/1, BetVictor.com) – odds that look far too long.

Odds supplied by www.smartbets.com, the customisable odds comparison site

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