Wenger Urges Gunners Board to Settle Walcott Situation

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, has urged the Gunners’ board to give into Theo Walcott’s contract demands before he is free to talk to other clubs.

The winger’s current deal at the Emirates Stadium expires at the end of the season, meaning that he will be allowed to sign a pre-contract agreement with anyone he wants and may leave North London for free.

Websites offering Premier League predictions will tell you that the Gunners were in a similar situation earlier this year with skipper, Robin van Persie, and they eventually allowed the Dutchman to join rivals, Manchester United, to ensure they made a profit on the player.

It previously appeared as if Walcott was set to extend his stay at the club, but he is still to reach an agreement with the board and chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, who has recently criticised the 23-year-old’s wage demands.

Another request that the England international has made is that he gets to play in his preferred position as a main striker, and he impressed in a rare outing in that role during his side’s Capital One Cup win at Reading on Tuesday.

Wenger has since hinted to the betting news that he could have his wish granted in the coming months and has urged the board to settle the player’s future.

"There is urgency. I want it resolved by Christmas. At the moment, I think we will still manage to make a deal with him,” the Frenchman said. 

"I always said it is important that he plays in the right position, and that certainly would be through the middle in the future; he showed that again on Tuesday night.

"He loves to score goals, Theo. He has good pace, makes excellent, intelligent runs, and what has changed with Theo is that he's become a very good finisher."

Postecoglou Feels Full Force of the Roar

Ange Postecoglou’s return to Brisbane was everything the former Roar head coach would have dreaded, as the defending A-League champions tore his Melbourne Victory side apart, much to the chagrin of fans betting on soccer.

The size of the job in hand for Postecoglou was made clear for all to see as the Roar made relatively easy work of inflicting the Victory’s second defeat in the new season, as the hosts ran out 5-0 winners to send their former boss back to Melbourne with his tail between his legs.

Without three key players, in Archie Thompson, Marco Rojas and Mark Milliagan, the job was never going to be an easy one for the Victory. Two goals for Brisbane in a crazy first half minute ensured the visitors were left chasing the game from early on.

Thomas Broich opened the scoring on the 22nd minute before setting up a second soon after for Erik Paartalu.

The second half didn’t get better for Melbourne either, as Bersart Berisha’s brace and Mitch Nichols further rubbed salt in the wounds of Postecoglou on his return to the Suncorp Stadium.

Postecoglou’s return to Brisbane had been surrounded with plenty of hype in the news soccer in the run-up to this match, but the 47-year old was keen to focus on talking about his new club rather than his former one when he faced the press after the 5-0 hammering.

“My responsibility lies solely with getting this club back to where it belongs and start performing like our supporters think they deserve - that's our focus.

“I knew it was a challenge coming up here. But we are trying to play a style of game. It is going to take some time to come to grips with it, the players are still in a learning process - the players will get there.”

Goals Galore Predicted at Wembley

Wembley Stadium will not see anything so good again, as what will happen on Friday evening. For the first time since 1993, San Marino come to town and are promising goals.

Granted, these goals are very likely to be flowing in the San Marinese net rather than Joe Hart’s, but the travelling side nevertheless have this goal-rich guarantee when they enter the Wembley pitch on Friday.

A full house is expected at Wembley and 90,000 England fans will be wanting goals, with some people even suggesting double figures may be on the cards. More realistically, however, England are likely to take three points against San Marino and do so without any problems.

With a win all but guaranteed, goals are what will make this game fun. The last time these two sides met at Wembley, England won 6-0, and Friday’s result is priced at just 1.18 with the Betfair football betting not to stay below a 3-3 result.

San Marino have conceded an average 4.1 goals a game over their 133 previous international fixtures and have scored just 19 in reply. However, the land-locked nation does have form against England with a solitary strike just 8.3 seconds into the game during their 7-1 loss to Graham Taylor’s side in ‘93.

San Marino are priced at 4.9 on Betfair to bag the first goal once again when the two sides meet, while the game is 1.32 to exceed 4.5 goals.

For those feeling adventurous however, a goal rout at Wembley may be on the cards. England’s biggest ever victory was a 13-0 drubbing of Ireland in February 1882. 

Only 130 years later, could that scoreline be beaten? Odds of just 4.8 for over 8.5 goals suggest it certainly can and, with Roy Hodgson’s professionals facing a wine club from eastern Italy, almost anything could happen on Friday.

Not interested in yet another international? Check out the best odds to win Premier League, featuring United, City, and Chelsea.