Why Arsenal may struggle for goals in opening pre-season test

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Can anyone remember the last time Arsenal Football Club enjoyed a straightforward pre-season?

You probably have to go back to the summer before the Invincibles put themselves into football folklore to find a time when things went to plan for Arsene Wenger.

Since that inimitable 2003-04 season, on-off transfer sagas with Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas have overshadowed their preparation for several years and that’s before you get to a lack of big spending that has so frustrated fans at the Emirates and undermined the club’s chances of silverware.

And after the transfer inertia of last year left the club in a mad last-minute dash to sign players (Wenger resembled a contestant on Supermarket Sweep in the last few days of the window), this summer is another one where Wenger heads towards August with his plans up in the air.

Unlike last summer, the Frenchman has done some encouraging early business in the shape of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, but very much like last season Wenger looks set to lose his captain and best player as Robin van Persie continues to agitate for a move.

Arsenal only have two strikers in their travelling party (and one of them is Maroune Chamakh), so it may not prove to be the rout the 3Way odds suggest is on the cards.

Losing their talisman and last year’s Premier League top scorer would be a wounding blow for Arsenal, who can’t expect to sell their best players and compete at the top end of the league – something their fans know all too well.

So yet another pre-season starts with Arsenal in limbo (and that’s not even mentioning the poisonous boardroom situation), but Wenger has at least dealt with this before and 16 consecutive qualifications for the Champions League prove that the Frenchman has always managed to recover.

Arsenal fans will be hoping there will be a 17th as the competition for the top four becomes increasingly fierce and the Gunners’ bid for a successful campaign starts in earnest tonight with a friendly against a Malaysian XI in the opening fixture of their Asian tour.

The North Londoners are long odds-on favourites with bwin to win the match, but you won’t get rich taking the 2/25 on offer, while the hosts are 17/1, with the draw at 27/4.

Arsenal should obviously win the match, although their squad is shorn of many of its star names. Van Persie has not travelled thanks to “lack of fitness”, most of their Euro 2012 contingent are missing and long-term absentees Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna have been left in England to continue their rehabilitation.

It means Wenger has taken a largely young and inexperienced squad and with each player likely to get just a 45-minute work-out, you’d be mad to take that price on the Gunners.

It may instead be worth having a small – let’s emphasise small – play on Malaysia avoiding a heavy defeat and take the 23/10 on offer on the Asians with a two-goal head start.

New customers can get a free £20 bet when registering with bwin and placing this on Arsenal to lose, draw or win by no more than one goal would return a cool £66 if successful.

Arsenal only have two strikers in their travelling party (and one of them is Maroune Chamakh), so it may not prove to be the rout the 3Way odds suggest is on the cards.

Recommended bet: Malaysia XI to win in the 2-0 handicap market @ 23/10

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