Gunners to fire in City

Gunners to fire in City


Punting
Michael Duffy

IF Arsenal are to make a prolonged championship challenge this season, Arsene Wenger’s young team will have to dispel widely-held doubts about their mental toughness.
What better opportunity to do that then by revisiting the city where the suffered such misfortune last time out, and registering a win against the side that now possess two of Arsenal’s key players from last season.
I think Wenger’s men will lay down a marker against Manchester City on Saturday. They dominated United at Old Trafford for long stretches, and should really have won comfortably if it wasn’t for rushes of blood to the head on the part of Almunia and Diaby. City are still a work in progress, and may find the tempo and precision of Arsenal’s passing too slick to live with.
Elsewhere, in the Premier League, Sam Allardyce will have Blackburn wound up to finally get their campaign going at home to Wolves. Liverpool should continue to make up ground by easing past Burnley, while Chelsea should have the physical presence to resist Stoke bombardment at the Britannia Stadium.
A win for Sunderland over Hull and a Villa triumph in the second city derby against Birmingham will give you a decent accumulator.
Recommendation: Arsenal (v Man City) 13-8; Accumulator: Blackburn, Liverpool, Chelsea, Sunderland, Aston Villa.

Cats’ trophy haul set to continue
THE subplot of Sunday’s All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Final was meant to be Joe Canning v Richie Hogan. Instead, the onus is on young Darach Honan to provide the Joe Show.
Honan’s marvellous 2-4 was central to Clare’s thrilling semi-final win over the Tribesmen, and he now looks set to join the exciting band of young guns like Power, Canning, McGrath and Maher that have lit up the senior hurling championship.
His attacking colleague Colin Ryan – who has already made his own senior impact – will also be a vital presence if the Banner are to prevent Kilkenny from finishing the hurling year with just one crown – a veritable famine by their recent standards.
Understandably, given the age profile of Kilkenny’s seniors, Power is the only one of last year’s winning under-21 team to make inroads at senior level. So he’ll be the only senior starter to line out here. But the likes of Mark Bergin, John Mulhall and JJ Farrell will all pose a serious threat.
But Hogan will be the man Clare must watch – he was imperious at times in the Leinster final defeat of Dublin. And this is all new territory for the Banner, so I’ll take Kilkenny to have the know-how to emulate their seniors.
Recommendation: Kilkenny (v Clare) 4-6.

Ding to lift snooker’s China crisis
A NEW snooker season is under way this week, albeit one stripped of much of the profile the sport once enjoyed.
The ongoing quest to revive interest in the green baize is increasingly focused on the Far East, and this week’s Shanghai Masters ranking event will underline the sport’s surging popularity in China.
Unfortunately, China’s own snooker superstar has suffered dimmed fortunes in recent year. After a sparking start to his career, during which he claimed three ranking titles, world number 14 Ding Junhui failed to register a tournament victory during the past two seasons.
But with compatriot Liang Wenbo now sharing some of the expectation heaped on Ding’s shoulders, the 22-year-old may be able to re-ignite his fortunes away from the limelight.
He begins his campaign on Wednesday afternoon against Stephen Lee, and with the nine-frame format suiting his exciting style, on home turf, he looks a good each-way shout at 18-1.
Recommendation: Ding Junhui, Shanghai Masters, 18-1 e/w.