Royals 8-11 to be bottom after sixth defeat on spin

By Max Oram 10:06PM 17 DEC 2012

READING are 8-11 with Ladbrokes to finish bottom of the Premier League after enduring a 5-2 tonking by Arsenal at the Madejski Stadium on Monday night.

The Royals - already in 20th spot with just nine points, one behind QPR and six adrift of 18th-placed and 17th-placed Southampton - are also 1-8 from 1-6 for relegation with Ladbrokes, who make Brian McDermott 6-4 favourite in their betting on the next top-flight manager to leave their post. McDermott had been 2-1 with the firm before the game in which they were 3-0 down at half-time and 4-0 down on the hour when Santi Cazorla completed his hat-trick.

Lucas Podolski, a general 11-2 shot, opened the scoring for the Gunners after 14 minutes and Theo Walcott wrapped up matters for Arsene Wenger's men in the 80th minute and condemned the Berkshire outfit to a sixth straight defeat.

However, Arsenal also suffered another wobble - when Adam Le Fondre and Jimmy Kebe notched to bring the score back to 4-2 - and although most firms have clipped the now fifth-placed Gunners to finish in the top four, Betfred have eased them to evens.

Bet365 now offer evens about Walcott scoring 12 or more Premier League goals (8-11 or fewer). He has five to his name so far as well notching five in the Capital One Cup and one in the Champions League,

Match in Focus

12:45 TODAY BT1

Tottenham v Fulham

Home Win	Draw	Away Win

Key stats

Tottenham have conceded 20 goals in their last eight matches

Expert verdict

Fulham are back on the survival bike but they almost copped a flat against Norwich, who utterly outplayed them. Tottenham clearly have the firepower to puncture the Cottagers’ hopes though Tim Sherwood’s men haven’t kept a clean sheet in eight and have leaked 48 goals, so Fulham should at least find the net.

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