The best sports on the telebox tonight

Arsenal/ Blackburn Rovers (Setanta Sports 1, 7pm)

Inspiration can spring from the most improbable sources, as Bob Marley found when the theme tune to The Banana Splits suddenly suggested itself as the “tra-la-la” interlude he was looking for to make his song Buffalo Soldier complete. So perhaps Arsene Wenger, sifting through the events of the weekend for ideas for tonight’s game against Blackburn, should look off the field, for instance at the minute’s silence before the Manchester derby, rather than anything that happened on the pitch. There, Manchester City fans behaved with such an impeccable sense of occasion that they ended up with a far, far greater reward than a souvenir scarf. Had they taken the route of oafish chanting, United would surely have crushed them. Blackburn, second from bottom of the fair play league, will tonight be playing the part of the oaf, trying to stave off a beating with some beefy northern vigour. Arsenal should serenely rise above it, though, and their fans, as usual, will oblige with silence.

Betting on tonight’s game

» Arsenal have managed to keep Blackburn from scoring in five of their last six visits in all competitions.

» Betting on the time of the first goal? Four of the last five league meetings between these two at Arsenal have seen goals in the first 15 minutes.

» Arsenal have scored twelve goals in the last three occasions Blackburn have come to Arsenal for a Premier League game - that’s an average of four per game.

For more stats and to place your bets, click here.