WhoScored Tipster: Giroud to Thwart City's Bid to End Winless Away Run

Monday night’s meeting between Arsenal and Manchester City is certainly the most mouth-watering prospect in this week’s Premier League action, with the two hotly tipped to fight it out for the title this season.

For now the teams occupy second and third spot respectively behind Leicester, with the Gunners able to build a 4-point gap from their rivals with a win. With so much at stake, Bet365 have launched an exciting offer to add extra intrigue to the big clash.

Place any single bet before the game up to a value of £50 and Bet365 will give you a risk-free in-play bet up to the same value. If your in-play bet loses, they will refund the amount in cash to your account, with the offer available to both new and existing customers. So here's how we'd play it...

Looking at the recent (and indeed not so recent) meetings between the sides in London it’s clear that Arsenal have a strong advantage. The Gunners have lost just one league match out of 30 at home against City since 1975, while they have picked up 13 points from a possible 15 over their last 5 league outings at the Emirates this season.

Manuel Pellegrini will, however, likely have Sergio Aguero and David Silva in the same side after both have struggled with injuries so the visitors will be confident of testing Petr Cech. Nevertheless, with City without a win on the road in four the odds ahead of the game on Arsenal to win or draw @1.40 could be a relatively low risk bet, offering a return of £14 from a tenner.

With regards to your risk-free in-play bet, it’s worth being a little more daring. We’re moving to the goalscorer markets, tipping Olivier Giroud to continue his fine form at present. The Frenchman netted his fifth goal in his last 3 appearances at Villa last time out and has scored in each of his last two appearances against Manchester City. Odds on Giroud to score anytime are currently @2.10 but if you fancy longer odds than the first scorer market is also interesting.

Four of the Arsenal striker's last 5 league goals have been the opening goal of the game, with odds of a repeat sitting @5.00 ahead of the game. There’s great value to be had there, particularly given the visitors are likely to be without Vincent Kompany once more, so that’s our in-play tip, but if you’re backing the hosts to come out on top then the odds rise to a tempting @7.00 on Giroud to score first and Arsenal to win.

A bet of £10 on Giroud to score first regardless of the outcome would return £50.00 as things stand, and if he did open the scoring en route to a positive result for Arsenal, be that a win or a draw, the pre-match double chance tip would come in for a total potential return of £64, and all from just a tenner out of your own pocket. If you're feeling confident and want to put the full £50 limit on each of the above bets then your winnings would come in at £320 should the results go your way, and what a Merry Christmas that would be!