Thursday 14 January 2016 5:42 pm

Football betting: Arsenal face testing trip to bogey team Stoke

Sports Editor

Arsene Wenger’s least favourite trip of the season is on Sunday, as his Arsenal side travel to Stoke.

The Gunners haven’t won in their last five attempts at the Britannia and, given Stoke’s recent good form, Wenger could be in for another tough afternoon.

Mark Hughes’s men will be fired up to add another scalp after beating Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in what’s been another impressive campaign.

The form of their attacking trio of Marko Arnautovic, Bojan Krkic and Xherdan Shakiri is a far cry from the direct football seen under Tony Pulis, and Stoke are capable of beating Arsenal at their own game.

In this fixture last year Hughes’ side raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time before holding out for a 3-2 victory.

Given Arsenal’s mental frailties when playing at Stoke, a similar turn of events this time could well be on the cards.

While the Gunners currently lead the Premier League table, they still have the capacity to implode, as the 4-0 reversal at Southampton on Boxing Day shows.

Conceding three times away at Anfield on Wednesday night suggests there still could be holes in their defence for Stoke to exploit.

Betway make the Potters 100/30 to win on Sunday, which looks like a great bet.

I certainly wouldn’t back the Gunners to win at 9/10.

Spread bettors should sell Arsenal supremacy at 0.5, which would return a profit in the event of either a Stoke victory or a draw.