Wigan v Arsenal 12:45
- Wigan remain in the bottom three of the Premier League after losing 2-1 to Norwich in their last outing. A Shaun Maloney goal wasn’t enough to secure victory over the Canaries and Wigan are struggling to turn some good football into goals.
- Maloney’s goal was his second of the season having previously had 16 efforts at goal with 11 on target at a rate of 68.75% on target
- Ronnie Stam did his best to carve out chances for his team in the game, delivering 12 crosses, the second highest by a player in a single game this season. He will be hoping his team mates can start getting on the end of them though, as he has now delivered 32 crosses without being credited an assist, the second highest in the league after West Ham’s Mark Noble. Stam is an industry best price of 40/1 with 888sport.com to score first against Arsenal, should the full back decide to stop providing for his team mates and start going for goal himself
- Ali Al Habsi was busy again against Norwich, making a number of saves. The keeper has made more saves than any other keeper this season with 107.
- Arsenal’s last game was against Reading, the fixture that previously gave us a thrilling 7-4 encounter in the League Cup. This time around the fixture also gave us an exhilarating scoreline with Arsenal coming out 5-2 winners.
- Santi Cazorla continued to cement his place in the hearts of the Arsenal fans with a stunning display including a hat trick and an assist, while Podolski and Walcott added a strike each.
- Cazorla’s hat trick takes his total for the season to 7, and moved him up 12 places to 5th in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Cazorla’s goals have come at a rate of one every 8 shots, with 62.5% of his shots being on target this season.
- Cazorla is also top of the index for passes completed in his opponent’s half with 709 so far with 6 assists also credited to the Spanish midfielder. That means he’s had a hand in 13 goals this season, either scoring or providing, the fourth highest in the league after van Persie (18), Tevez (17), and Rooney (14).
- Theo Walcott is making a case for himself as a striker this season. His goal was his fifth in the Premier League, and with four assists also to his name he has averaged a goal or assist once every 81 minutes 47 seconds this season, the fifth best rate discounting those players who have contributed to or scored fewer than 3 goals.
- Walcott’s shots per goal rating is 4.2, a ratio on a par with former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie who has averaged 4.5 shots per goal this season. You can get a price of 13/8 on Walcott to score at any time with 888sport.com.