What are the odds Chelsea outscore Arsenal this time? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

By Derek McGovern in Betting Blog

Published 22:30 31/10/11

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Arsenal look to have turned a corner with their sensational victory at Chelsea on Saturday – the only snag is that they’ll probably­ concede from it.

Boss Arsene Wenger said he is unsure whether or not the 5-3 win means that the Gunners are back in the title race, which raises the question, ‘Who’s raising that question?’

More realistically, Arsenal fans should be questioning what happens when Robin van Persie next gets injured, which statistically should happen any minute now.

The Gunners have netted 20 goals in the Premier League this season and Van Persie has got 10 of them.

The Dutchman has now taken over from Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero at the head of the betting for the Golden Boot, which for Van Persie’s sake I hope is a left one. He’s the 5-2 favourite with Hills.

His injury record has improved since he underwent­ horse placenta treatment a couple of years ago. Clearly it helps protect against knocks and blows, but not as much as his sheepskin noseband.

After tearing Chelsea apart, Van Persie hoped to get the chance to rip Marseille apart, except their boss Didier Deschamps beat him to it.

It was difficult to believe Marseille had won only one French League game all season until we saw them against Arsenal a fortnight ago. It was then difficult to believe that they had won any at all.

Arsenal are 4-6 to beat Marseille at the Emirates tonight, and probably­ will do.

But I’d rather take the 13-8 posted by 888sport for a Gunners win coupled with Van Persie getting a goal.

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Chelsea visit Genk on Tuesday – three days after playing like gonks.

It must have been hard for Blues fans to stomach that 90 minutes of comedy at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

But to be fair, Fernando Torres has been playing like that for around three seasons.

You can’t defend the way Chelsea did against Arsenal and be called title contenders. Defend like that and you can only be called Arsenal.

From what we saw at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, Genk can claim to be the worst team ever to play in the Champions League. From what we saw on Saturday – so could Chelsea.

That said, it’s difficult to resist the 4-5 offered by Bet365 for the Blues to outscore Arsenal on the night.

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BET OF THE DAY

Scientists have just discovered how you turn a fox into an elephant.

You marry it.

Get on Shakhtar at 7-2 to win at Zenit on Tuesday night.

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It's hard to say what stand-in judge Alexandra Burke brought to the X Factor on Saturday. But I said that every week the year she won it.

Burke did not try to conceal her distaste for misbehaving Frankie Cocantsing so I guess when she sang about the bad boys always catching her eye, she lied, she lied.

Hills have cut Burke to 5-1 to be a judge next year and that’s the biggest over-reaction to a single performance since, er, Burke’s following Misha B’s on Saturday.

The big question is whether Kelly Rowland will return after missing the weekend with a sore throat. It could be that she feels being associated with such poor acts is ruining her career.

Apparently Gary Barlow felt the same, which is why he’s taken time out from Take That to be on X Factor.

Hills have slashed from 8-1 to 6-4 Kelly’s odds to miss Saturday’s show. It sounded, when she phoned in on Sunday, like there was a masked Al Qaeda nutter standing behind her with a machete – as did a couple of her acts.

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