The Goalscorer Gamble: Robin van Persie to break more Arsenal hearts

27Apr 2013

Betfair

Dan Fitch is backing Robin van Persie to rub salt into Arsenal's wounds, when Manchester United travel to the Emirates.

I have to hold my hands up and say that the last two weeks have been shocking failures. Reduced to going through my wife's purse for an additional income, it's time to get this goalscoring gold-rush back into production.

If there's anything I've learned in almost 30 years of the otherwise pointless pursuit of watching football matches, it's that players like scoring against their old team.

We've all been there. Amongst the ranks of the opposition you spot a former hero. A sudden certainty hits you. That player will score today. Then he does.

All of which spells bad news for Arsenal when they meet Manchester United on Sunday. Having lay dormant for a couple of months, Robin van Persie has sprung back into life with five goals in three games and now faces his former side.

A lot of people are expecting Manchester United to down tools having won the Premier League title, but with a record points haul still available, I expect them to be motivated. Van Persie looked back to his brilliant best against Aston Villa and when he's in that sort of form, anything over evens for him to find the net should be snapped up. Grab the 2.35 on offer.

Robin van Persie has looked like a top class player for years, but some strikers only come into full bloom in the latter stages of their career.

One such player is Motherwell's Michael Higdon. The 29-year old had a frankly rubbish goals per game ratio, until something suddenly clicked a couple of seasons ago while he was playing for St Mirren.

Higdon's form won him a move to Motherwell, where he has cored 41 goals in 79 games, including 24 strikes from 33 Scottish Premier League games this season.

Right now Higdon is looking unstoppable, with 12 goals in his last 10 games. Back him at 8.0 to score first against a Celtic team that lost in their last trip to Motherwell.

Over to Spain now for the crucial match between Real Sociedad and Valencia. The home side currently occupy the coveted fourth spot in La Liga, but Valencia beat Malaga 5-1 last week and are just two points behind Sociedad.

The player we are interested in is Jonas Oliveira, who has scored 17 goals for Valencia this season. He wasn't on target in the rout against Malaga, but had previously scored eight goals from eight appearances.

I think that I can count myself rather unlucky in regards to the last time I tipped Jonas. Backing him to score the last goal against Espanyol, he duly scored in the 87th minute, only for the game to inexplicably provide two further goals.

This week I'll simply be backing Jonas to find the net. At likely odds of 3.4, Jonas is a great price given his recent form and the fact that this should be another high-scoring match.

Next we go to Italy, where Napoli find themselves without their top scorer Edison Cavani. Even so, Walter Mazzarri's side are still expected to beat bottom of the table Pescara, who have conceded 67 goals this season, at an average of just over two goals a game.

With Cavani out the responsibility of scoring falls to others and our next pick is a midfielder who has been a consistent goal threat over the years. Marek Hamsik has hit double figures in each of his last six seasons in Italy. With nine goals this term he looks set to continue this run and will be available to back at odds of around 7.0 to score the last goal.

Finally we head back to the Premier League for the game between relegation threatened Wigan and a Tottenham side chasing a Champions League place. Crucially for the aspirations of Spurs, Gareth Bale has returned to the fold and was back to his unstoppable form in his return against Manchester City last week.

Bale did not look fully fit, but still set up Clint Dempsey's equaliser, before scoring a great goal to wrap up the game for Tottenham. That was Bale's 12th goal in his last 13 appearances, which makes the 2.34 on offer for the Welshman to add to his tally, look somewhat generous.

Recommended Bets

Best Bet: Back Van Persie to score at 2.35

Back Higdon to score first at 8.0

Back Jonas to score at 3.4

Back Hamsik to score last at 7.0

Back Bale to score at 2.34