Arsenal ended their worst winless run in 42 years by coming from behind at half-time to beat West Ham 3-1 in the English Premier League on Monday with all Forecastr predictions on the counter all coming to light.
Arsenal’s nine-match winless streak looked set to reach 10 after a lifeless first half, in which the Gunners conceded to West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna. They were booed off at the break.
Three goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a quick-fire nine minutes from the Gunners prompted West Ham fans to depart the Olympic Stadium in droves.
The win lifted Arsenal to ninth in the standings and ended an alarming run of form which cost Unai Emery his job.
The return to winning ways however, doesn’t mean all is finally well at the club with the Gunners defence already shipped in 24 goals this season – the fifth worst goals against in the Premier League this season after Newcastle United.
How the transfer failed
Back in January 2018 Arsenal failed in their attempts to sign West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans, according to The Sun. It was suggested at the time that the North London club refused to pay the club’s £25 million asking price for the centre-back.
At the end of that season, the Baggies were relegated. Evans, far too good to be plying his trade in the Championship, moved to Leicester City for a reported £3.5 million on a three-year-deal.
What now looks like a strange move is that the Gunners’ recruitment team didn’t return for Evans when his cost plummeted and they must be regretting the decision.
Leicester City are flying high in the Premier League this season. They sit second behind leaders Liverpool and the experienced centre-back has been instrumental in Brendan Rodgers’ team which have only concede 10 goals this season.
Since Evans signed terms at the King Power Stadium, the Gunners have struggled massively at the heart of defence. Presently, Arsenal are struggling to pair two defenders together who look capable of keeping a clean sheet.
Current market value
Given the Foxes current brilliant form under Rodgers, it’s even debatable as to whether Evans is perhaps worth more than the reported £25 million on current form.
While he has a few years left to perform at the top level, Evans has formed a formidable partnership with Caglar Soyuncu to make the duo one of the best defence in the Premier League.
Evans netted in a 4-1 win for the Foxes on Sunday against Aston Villa and WhoScored confirmed that he had an 86% pass success, won three aerial challenges, made nine clearances and also intercepted the ball on three occasions.
With the Gunners backline conceding goals for fun, the club fans must be wondering what might have been had they secured Evans signature in 2018.
Arsenal look a million miles away from silverware this season and it must really hurt that a former target of theirs is busy chasing a title with Leicester City.
All eyes would be on Freddie Ljunberg’s team this Thursday at they travelled all the way to Belgium to take on Standard Liege for their sixth Europa League Group stage games.
Europa League Predictions
As the Gunners are returning back to action Thursday night in Belgium, would you not one or two well-researched football predictions from Forecastr who are trusted by thousands of bettors for their accurate and back-to-back winning predictions.
