FA Cup / Dan Fitch / 23 January 2010 /

It's an all Premier League affair in the FA Cup Fourth Round, as Stoke play host to high flying Arsenal. Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch anticipates a tight encounter. Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ [1.91].

Here is an all-Premier League clash that might be more intriguing than it looks at first glance.

With Arsenal top of the league, the casual observer might assume that an away win is a shoe-in. However, throw in the fact that Stoke have an impressive home record, the clash of styles and the fact that Arsenal are likely to field a weakened team, and this game suddenly becomes much trickier to predict.

The Gunners have a tough Premier League fixture away at Aston Villa, which will take place on Wednesday. If that wasn't enough, they then have to play Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

So with a title challenge in the offing, Arsenal could be forgiven for placing less importance on the FA Cup. I don't think we'll quite see the team of 'kids' that graces the Carling Cup, but the side that Wenger fielded in the last round, does give us some indication that it will be weakened.

When drawn away to another Premier League side in the shape of West Ham, Wenger picked such fringe players as Fabianski, Silvestre, Merida, Ramsey, Wilshere and Vela.

With Sol Campbell also available, it's likely that around half the team will be made up of squad players. Those players are all capable of winning the game for Arsenal of course, but it does gives Stoke more of a chance.

Stoke have a full strength squad to pick from after Abdoulaye Faye and Rory Delap both recovered from knocks. Arsenal will be without the injured Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna.

The playing styles of the respective teams could not be more opposed and it will be interesting to see how Arsenal cope with Stoke's aerial bombardment and physical style. Last season when they travelled to the Britannia Stadium, they had no answer and lost 2-1.

Under 2.5 goals is the slight favourite at [1.91], with overs at [2.08]. You can back both teams to score at [1.81], while an Arsenal clean sheet is [2.62], with a Stoke shut out at [5.0]. Only Wolves and Portsmouth have scored less goals than Stoke this season, so under 2.5 goals and an Arsenal clean sheet, are both overpriced.

In the goalscorer markets, Eduardo and Arshavin are both [6.4] to score first and [2.64] anytime. For Stoke, Tuncay Sanli is [10.0] and [3.75], with Fuller at [10.5] and [3.8].

Stoke are [4.6], with the draw at [3.65] and Arsenal at [1.95]. Arsenal will want to win this one, as a draw would create further fixture congestion. Stoke will be no pushovers though and the stalemate might be the most likely result. If you fancy a Stoke win, then the [3.3] available for Stoke in the Draw No Bet market, is worth a punt.

There's also some good value to be found in the correct score markets. A 2-1 Stoke win is at [17.0], with 1-0 at [14.0]. A 1-1 draw is [7.2], with 1-0 to Arsenal at [8.6].

With Beattie out of favour, Stoke won't have the goal-power to win this game, but they may well force the draw. I'd imagine that any Arsenal win will have to be hard-fought, so I like the look of the draw/Arsenal at [6.2].

Arsenal are the second favourites to win the FA Cup at [6.0], with Stoke at [80.0]. If you fancy another 'Big Four' side to be eliminated from the competition, then a small bet on Stoke to win represents good value.

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