Premiership Preview by Matthew Chapple (4-5 October) (Thursday, October 02, 2008)

Premiership Preview for the weekend 4/5 October 2008 (Saturday, 4 October, 3.00pm) Wigan V Middlesborough Two sides with contrasting forms of late as Middlesborough make the trip to the JJB stadium where they take on Wigan Athletic. A venue which has seen them pick up 4 points from their last three visits. However, the last match at the JJB did finish 1-0 to the home side. Wigan come into the game off the back of a great 2-1 result over the richest club in the land in Manchester City. They were rather fortunate with receiving the penalty. Wilson Palacios clearly dived in what was a disgraceful attempt at trying to con the referee but he did unfortunately succeed. Despite that poor display of sportsmanship, they did play generally well and look very sprightly on the break. They posses great pace on the wings with Valencia and Palacios and have a strike who can score in Amr Zaki who has already notched up 5 league goals for the season already. They are also undefeated in their last four league games and will be looking for their first back-to-back victory of the season. Middlesborough however come into the game without gaining a point from their previous three league games. Three straight defeats in the league have seen them drop to 16th in the league and have managed just 6 points from their first 6 games of the season. They have also lost all three of their away fixtures this season scoring just twice. Alfonso Alves has been disappointing while there usually in form winger Stewart Downing is surprisingly out of form. They lack creativity at this moment in time and when they do make chances they fail to stick them in the net. Wigan look a much better side this time around then they did last season. Amr Zaki provides them with another attacking option other then Emile Heskey and looks potent in front of goal. Wigan at 11/10 with Bet365 looks good value considering the form of the two sides of late. West Brom V Fulham Two sides, who will more then likely be down near the bottom of the table by the time the season hits it's closure. They lack star quality and will rely heavily on beating the teams around them for points. Both of these sides will see this as a possible six pointer despite the Premiership being just 6 games old. West Brom have already been beaten twice at home this season with defeats to both Aston Villa and Everton. They did however manage a surprise at The Riverside when they narrowly saw of Gareth Southgate's lack lustred Middlesborough side. Middlesborough were widely tipped to cruise through that game and at least get the 3 points but West Brom restricted the Northerners to very few shots on goal. West Brom will see this as a better opportunity then Fulham what with home advantage being behind them. Fulham will be massively disappointed with their weekend performance against West Ham at Craven Cottage. West Ham pretty much sowed the game up at half time and finished the game 2-1 victors. Fulham will also have to deal with the fact that Andy Johnson will be unavailable for their next three league games after being sent off on Saturday for two bookable offences. Although he could have seen a straight red after his first poor attempt of a challenge on a West Ham defender. Fulham have lost all three of their away games in the league this season and we like the odds of 13/10 with Paddypower for this trend to continue with a West Brom win this Saturday. Roman Bednar takes all of West Brom penalty's and gets into some useful positions when West Brom attack and at 2/1 to score any time, looks a good value bet. Sunderland V Arsenal Both of these sides will come into this match at the Stadium of Light with defeats from last weekend on their minds. Hull City produced the shock of the Premiership so far with the 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday evening with not many predicting that result. Sunderland's 2-1 away defeat to Aston Villa was less surprising but Roy Keane will still be disappointed that his side could only keep hold of their early advantage for just a few minutes. If Arsenal had of got the result that they should have against Hull City then Arsene Wenger would have seen his side keep hold of the top spot. Arsenal in all fairness were poor. They were being too fancy and they were only interested in walking the ball into the net and barely registered any shots on goal in the first half. They only really came to life when Hull City took the lead on the hour mark after Giovanni had levelled the match with a stunning drive from around 30 yards. Arsenal also look very vulnerable this season from set plays. They fail to attack in coming balls and this could be something others managers will look into when they play Arsenal. Roy Keane has criticised both the Sunderland players and their fans after some bad results of late after managing to scrape past league two outfit Northampton in the Carling Cup and then losing 2-1 away to Aston Villa. A game which they were always going to find hard getting a result from. They did however take the lead very early on in the match but failed to keep hold of it and went into half time 2-1 down. Keane has spent over the summer but they still lack some who can attack opposition defences and create chances for the forwards. Sunderland have already lost two of their first 3 home league games this season and while Arsenal were largely disappointing last week, they do usually bounce back and we fancy them at 4/6 with Skybet to make amends this weekend. Blackburn Rovers V Manchester United Two sides coming off the back of wins despite both having their fair share of luck in achieving the wins. Manchester United saw off Bolton Wanderers but needed a dubious penalty to finally break the deadlock. Wayne Rooney was dropped but showed what Ferguson was missing when he came on around the hour mark and scored United's second of the game with a stunning low curling shot into the bottom right hand corner. Paul Ince's Blackburn took the lead early in the first half when Christopher Samba headed in their opener but replays showed he was offside. Santa Cruz headed their second while Newcastle could only managed a Michael Owen penalty and the match finished 2-1 to Blackburn. Both sides have made an inconsistent start to the season with Blackburn picking up 10 points from 6 games while Man United have notched up a disappointing 8 points from their opening 5 league fixtures. Blackburn have done well to overcome their two heavy defeats to West Ham and to Arsenal and have won their last two league fixtures. Manchester United have had some tough fixtures of late with Bolton being their first against one of the potential relegation teams. They welcome back Christiano Ronaldo to the side who has already scored from the spot to open his tally for the season. Manchester United tend to struggle against Blackburn with 5 of last meeting between the two ending in Man United favour while four have gone to Blackburn. Manchester United haven't lost to Blackburn though in their last 4 meetings and we expect them to get something today. At 4/6 with Skybet, they look a good price for the win. West Ham V Bolton Wanderers (Sunday, 5 October, 1.30pm) Another very tricky match for Gary Megson's Bolton side when they make the trip to London to take on West Ham United. A match which has however seen Bolton win 5 of the last 8 encounters. Their last match finishing 1-0 to Bolton at the Reebok. West Ham broke their away duct by beating Fulham at Craven Cottage last Saturday 2-1 and looked a very food side for the first 45 minutes. Fulham did pile the pressure in the second half but Zola's West Ham hung on in there for all three points. They have won all three of their home games beating Wigan, Blackburn and Newcastle. Craig Bellamy is fit again and looks set to start in place of Dean Ashton who is currently unavailable due to injury. Bolton have made an abysmal start to the season winning just 1 of their opening 6 league fixtures. That victory came on the opening day against Stoke City. Since that win they have picked up just one point in a draw with West Brom. Three straight defeats have left them in 17th position and it looks clear from their first few performances that they will more then likely be involved in a relegation scrap come the end of the season. This is a game we find hard to predict. Neither side play particularly good football and we have to slightly edge towards West Ham due to their better form. A home win is 4/5 with Bet365 while a Bolton win is 4/1 with Bet365. (Sunday, 5 October, 3.00pm) Chelsea V Aston Villa A potentially difficult game ahead for Scolari's Chelsea when they welcome Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge. Aston Villa have stood their ground on their last two visits to Chelsea drawing the previous two matches 1-1 and the most recent, 4-4. Aston Villa also beat Chelsea at home last season 2-0 so it would appear Villa are some what of a bogey team for Chelsea. Chelsea have been in sparkling form though this season with some emphatic results. They thrashed Portsmouth on the opening day 4-0 while they cruised past the French Ligue 1 runners up Bordeaux 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. Deco and Bosingwa have added more attacking options with Bosingwa making forward runs down the right at every opportunity and scored his first Chelsea goal last weekend at Stoke. They are one of just two sides that are undefeated so far this season but have drawn their previous two home league games. Both games against Tottenham and Man United ending 1-1. Drogba and Ballack are back in the fray so Chelsea appear to look to have a far superior side on paper. Aston Villa have made a great start to the season and they currently find themselves in 3rd position. Their only defeat of the season came away to Stoke City two games in. They have won their last three league games seeing off Tottenham, West Brom and Sunderland. They showed great character coming from behind to beat Sunderland last weekend and with both of their strikers in superb form, they stand a good chance of getting a result from the game. Aston Villa look like the side who will push the top four and have the potential to be the only side capable of maybe sneaking a Champions league spot. They do lack quality in depth though and with the size of Chelsea's squad they should see off Villa this Saturday. Chelsea are firm favourites with 11/25 with Gamebookers while Villa can be found at 17/2 with Skybet. Manchester City V Liverpool This is one of the more appealing games on offer this weekend as Mark Hughes's Manchester City host a Liverpool side on a high after their Merseyside Derby victory over Everton. This is a match that has been dominated by Liverpool in recent years. Liverpool have won 6 out of the last 10 league encounters between the two sides. Manchester City's one and only league victory over Liverpool came three years ago on the 25th of November 2005. Man City were rather unlucky not to get a result from Wigan last Sunday when they went down 2-1 at the JJB stadium. A blatant dive by Wilson Palacios handed Wigan the points. Robinho has made a lively start and himself and Wright-Philips already look to have a good partnership forming on the wings with both possessing fantastic pace and the ability to take a defender on. Jo has finally started scoring although they do need another striker who can score regularly to partner him. Benjani is currently unavailable while Sturridge lacks experience. Liverpool players will be in a buoyant mood after overcoming the test of Everton at Goodison Park. Fernando Torres broke his 6 game goal drought and bagged a brace while Robbie Keane is still to score his first goal at the club. They did well to pick themselves up from a disappointing draw at home to Stoke the following week and if they can play like they did in the second half of Saturday then they should come out of this game with all three points. An away win is 13/10 with SportingBet. It is a little short for a side playing away especially a side as inconsistent as Liverpool. The home win is valued around 9/4. Liverpool have a knack of drawing the majority of their games and i wouldn't be surprised if it ended in a draw this weekend. The 23/10 with Bet365 which looks a good bet. Portsmouth V Stoke City Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth side welcomes new boys Stoke City to Fratton Park this Sunday. This will be the first time these two sides have met in the Premiership and both will be desperate to secure all three points. Portsmouth picked themselves up from a 6-0 drubbing against Manchester City and comfortably beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at home. Despite the scoreline being fairly low, Tottenham never really posed much of a threat going forward. They played with one up front and Portsmouth dealt with it comfortably. Jermiane Defoe continued his goal scoring form by scoring a penalty while Crouch bagged the second. The two look to be forming a good partnership and Harry Redknapp will see this as a great opportunity for these two to get on the score sheet again this Sunday. Stoke City have put on some valiant displays in their first few league games but that counts for nothing if they don't pick up results. Their only win of the season came at home on the second day of the season against Aston Villa but did pick up a massive point away to Liverpool. Chelsea were just too good last Saturday and Stoke never looked like scoring enough to even make a match out of it. They do defend very well and in numbers and we expect them to put men behind the ball and try and hold out for a point and possibly attack on the break. Portsmouth would have seen this game as a great opportunity to pick up three points and we fancy them to do so at 4/6 with Paddypower. Jermaine Defoe is scoring goals for fun somewhat lately but his odds are too short for our liking. Get on Peter Crouch to add to his tally at 11/10 with Bet365 to score any time in the match. Tottenham Hotspur V Hull City The price of the weekend appears to be in this match as Tottenham go in search of their first 3 points of the season when they take on high flying Hull City. Spurs have made their worst start to a season in 53 years and a defeat this Sunday would severely put Ramos's managerial career at Tottenham in jeopardy. Tottenham form of late was unthinkable at the start of the season. I can't imagine anyone would of predicted that a club as big as spurs would go 6 league games without a win. They have picked up just two points with draws at Chelsea and a home draw against Wigan. They have so much quality at the club but it would appear that Juande Ramos doesn't know what his best side is. One week Jenas is dropped then the following week Modric will be dropped. This can only damage team morale and he will need to start picking his best eleven sooner rather then later. They are a far better side on paper then Hull City and just have to get a win this weekend. Hull City have been the surprise package of the league so far. They were odds on favourites to finish bottom of the league but after 6 games they find themselves 7 points clear of the bottom three and are currently in a UEFA Cup spot. We doubt they will continue to play and get the result they currently are but they have already notched up more points in six games then Derby did all season. Their 2-1 away victory over Arsenal was sublime and by far the shock result of the season to date. Despite that great result we think this will be a match too far for them. Tottenham don't have a hope at all if the form book is anything to go by but they have so much quality that the price of a home win at 4/5 with 888Sport is hard to ignore. Hull City have done incredibly well so far but they will have to put on another valiant display if they are to get a result at White Hart Lane. Everton V Newcastle (Sunday, 5 October, 4.00pm) These two sides are a hundred miles away from where they expected to be at the start of the season with both lying in the lower half of the table. Everton were the closest out of all the sides in the league to get close to the top four finishing in fifth position but after a poor start to the new season they find themselves in 14th. Newcastle are a club that requires regular European football and they are far from achieving that. They are a club in turmoil who lack confidence. Everton players and fans will be devastated with last Saturdays performances against Liverpool at Goodison Park. They were outplayed and out fought in a match that was predicted to be closer then it actually was. Two Torres goals in the second half put the match to bed while Tim Cahill will miss the next three league games after being sent off for a rash challenge on Xabi Alonso. They have lost all three of the home games so far conceding 8 in the process. Moyes failed to bring in more talent over the summer and it would appear they are starting to pay the price. Where do we start with Newcastle United. A club without a permanent manager, fans on strike and a owner that now doesn't want anything to do with the club. All this controversy is certainly getting to the players. They started the season with a fantastic result against Manchester United drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford but since Kevin Keegan has walked out they have failed to pick up a single win domestically. They have conceded six in their last two away league fixtures and we wouldn't be surprised if they shipped a few more this Saturday. This really should be an Everton win. There is no better time to play a club like Newcastle then now. A home win is 4/5 with BetFred although with both having fairly poor defences records this season we fancy their to be goals. You can get 47/50 with CanBet on there being 3 or more goals in the match. Labels: premier-league-betting, premier-league-preview Posted by soccerbetting.info @ 9:53 AM << Home