Premiership Preview by Matthew Chapple (18-20 October) (Thursday, October 16, 2008)

Premiership Preview for the weekend 18-20 October 2008 Middlesborough V Chelsea (Saturday, 18 October, 12.45pm) Gareth Southgate's side haven't made a good start to the season and won't appreciate having to face a Chelsea side playing great football and in superb form. A match which has seen Chelsea dominate in the past with Chelsea winning 8 of the previous 12 meetings. Middlesborough last league victory over Chelsea came over two years ago. Middlesborough have made a terrible start to the season by their standards and their fans won't be too optimistic about their sides chances this coming Saturday. They come into the game off the back of an away win but they did lose their previous three league games. Some of their performances this season have been good but they fail to put the chances they do get away and they can't afford to be wasting chances against good sides. Alves has been drastically disappointing so far and they do lack a regular goalscorer at this moment in time. Chelsea aren't struggling for goals and have scored 14 already this term. They keep it very tight at the back as well conceding just the three. Frank Lampard has returned to his goalscoring ways for his club and although they will be without Didier Drogba, they should have enough in front of goal to see off Middlesborough. Bosinwga looks dangerous when he bombs forward along with Malouda down the left who finally looks as if he is coming good for the blues. Nicolas Anelka is contributing with odd goal and they will be relying on him to bag the goals with the absence of Drogba. Chelsea are a decent price at 3/5 with Gamebookers which should be taken on. They have won their previous three away games and look good value to continue that form. A home win is 13/2 with Coral. Liverpool V Wigan (Saturday, 18 October, 3pm) Steve Bruce's Wigan side make the trip up north this Saturday to take on the red side of Merseyside in Liverpool. The last 6 league meetings between the two sides have seen Wigan pick up just the single point which was however their last ever league meeting. Liverpool have won the other 5 and dominate the head-to-head. Liverpool also go into this home fixture at Anfield in superb form. They are flying high in the champions league after winning their opening two fixtures and are currently undefeated in the league, level on points with league leaders Chelsea. Liverpool, are dare we say it, starting to look like they could be serious title contenders this season and have to ensure that this Saturday they get all three points if they are to keep up with Chelsea. Fernando Torres has finally hit form and has scored 4 in his last two league fixtures and their last game at Manchester City, which seen them come from two behind to win 3-2, will only boost their already high morale. Wigan on the other hand come into this tough fixture off the back of a disappointing home defeat to an out of sorts Middlesborough side at home. They have put in some decent displays so far this season and early indication shows that they should be ok for premiership survival this term. They will find this a massive challenge though and it will more then likely;y be too much for them to get any sort of result. Liverpool are around 3/1 with Boylesports which actually looks decent value. Fernando Torres has got his scoring boots on and looks a good bet to score at any time in the match at EVENS with Bet365, but you should decide on that bet only if Torres will definitely play (he picked up a thigh injury on international duty). Fulham V Sunderland (Saturday, 18 October, 3pm) A rather dull fixture sees Fulham entertain Sunderland this Saturday. Two sides who don't tend to play attractive football and both are very inconsistent. These two sides have only met six times in the league with Fulham edging the head-to-head with 4 wins to Sunderland's 3. However, Roy Keane will take the positive of having beaten Fulham in their previous league meeting. Fulham come into the match with 3 straight league defeats behind them and despite them managing to pick up a win against Arsenal, they failed to make any strides forward. Their narrow 1-0 defeat to West Brom leaves them in 17th position in the league. Just one point off the drop. It is still early days but their early performances haven't given us much faith. They have managed just 5 goals from their opening 7 league games. Sunderland were very unlucky not to pick up all three points in their last league fixture against Arsenal and Roy Keane will be expecting a similar level of performance this weekend if his side are to take something positive away from Craven Cottage this weekend. They have failed to win away from since beating Tottenham in the second set of matches. They have strengthened their side though and they will get the nod in this match. We won't be taking neither side on with any real confidence but we slightly edge towards an away win. Sunderland are currently 23/10 with Bet365 while a home win is 13/10 with Boylesports. Bolton V Blackburn (Saturday, 18 October, 3pm) Paul Ince's men make the trip to Bolton this Saturday in search of three points. Bolton will be desperate for the three points in order to provide some temporary breathing space above the bottom three while Blackburn need to keep up with the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa for that fifth spot. Bolton do come into the game off the back of a very impressive 3-1 away win against West Ham and will need to continue that form if they are to overcome a very tough test this weekend. Bolton have failed to beat Blackburn in their last 3 matches. A trend which Gary Megson will be looking to put to bed. They do lack a potent striker and we seriously doubt they have enough up front to pick up enough points this season. They did tremendously well at Upton Park but this could be a disappointing home fixture for them this weekend. Blackburn started brightly but have dropped off the pace slightly with just two wins from their last five league fixtures. Their away form is narrowly better then their home form and they do come into the game off the back of a 2-1 victory at St. James Park. Roque Santa Cruz certainly has talent but has yet to start firing in the goals like he was last season. Pedersen has gone quiet while the loss of Bentley on the wing appears to have restricted Blackburn's creativity. Home advantage could be key but if Blackburn can provide the strikers with some decent chances then they could sneak an away victory. A home win is 7/5 with Bet365 while an away win is currently 2/1 with the same bookmaker. We are slightly edging towards an away win but at 4/7 for Blackburn to win or draw looks to represent decent value. Arsenal V Everton (Saturday, 18 October, 3pm) An interesting tie on paper as Everton make the trip down south to London to take on Arsenal at the Emirates. The last 12 previous league meetings between the two sides have seen Arsenal pick up 7 victory's to Everton's 3. Everton have also never beaten Arsenal away from home since the Premiership was formed. Neither side has made an impressive start to the season with both being several league positions away from were they want to be. Arsenal have already lost two league games including a humiliating 2-1 home defeat to new boys Hull on their own turf. Their last league game was away to Sunderland and they were some what fortunate to take a point away from that fixture. It took a late Fabregas header to give Wenger's men an undeserved point. Their big players have fialed to perform consistently and despite their last home fixture being a comprehensive 4-0 win over FC Porto, they could find themselves a drift of the top two if they fail to perform this weekend. Everton go into this game with no form what so ever after failing to win in the league in their last three fixtures including a bitter home defeat to Liverpool. For a team that finished 5th last season, they have seriously under-performed and they find themselves in a disappointing 15th position. Their last league victory came away at Stoke and they are actually undefeated away from home this season. Despite that, we fancy a comfortable home win. Everton lack fire-power in front of goal and we would be surprised if they posed Wenger's men any threats. A home win is 10/27 with Coral and looks a pretty safe bet despite the price being fairly short. An away for Everton is currently 9/1 with Bet365. For the odds on offer i would rather bet on Everton with a very small stake but Arsenal should really win this. Aston Villa V Portsmouth (Saturday, 18 October, 3pm) Martin O'Neill 's Aston Villa are all set to host Portsmouth this weekend as Harry Redknapp's men make the trip to Villa Park. A match which seen them take all three points last season in a 3-1 victory. Although Aston Villa do lead the head-to-head with 4 wins to Portsmouth's 3. Aston Villa do into this game off the back off a defeat to current league leaders Chelsea and were completely outplayed in that match. Martin O'neill will be hoping that, that defeat won't have affected his teams confidence. They are however undefeated at home this season and will take all the beating this weekend. They have a young side full of pace and with the experience of John Carew up front they seem to have put together a good formula in an attempt to snatch the fifth spot in the league. They have beaten both Manchester City and Sunderland at home and have held Liverpool to 0-0 draw. Portsmouth haven't travelled well so far this season. They have lost two of their three away league fixtures conceding 10 in the process. They were impressive against Everton at Goodison Park when they won 3-0 but have been vastly poor recently on their travels. Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch are in goalscoring form and the pair will be key if they are to take anything from Villa Park this weekend. Aston Villa have been playing very well this season, especially at home and we fancy them to be too strong for Portsmouth. A home win is 5/6 with Coral while a Portsmouth win is 4/1 with Bet365. Manchester United V West Brom (Saturday, 18 October, 5.30pm) West Brom make the trip to Manchester in what looks a straight forward match for the home side. West Brom have never beaten Manchester United since the Premiership was formed with Manchester United winning 5 of the previous 6 meetings between the two sides. Fergie's men have dropped off the pace slightly and currently find themselves six points off the two leaders. They do however have a game in hand. Alex Ferguson will be desperate for the three points this Saturday and with Ronaldo back to full fitness and Rooney finally back to scoring ways, they should have no problems here. They will be without Paul Scholes with Darren Fletcher or Ryan Giggs likely to fill the void. West Brom will need to pick up points where ever they can but them themselves will have seen this fixture as one they probably won;t get anything from. Despite that they will give it everything but we fancy them to fall short once more. They do come into the game with two wins behind them but to far inferior sides. Manchester United are far too short to be lumping on but do look a safe bet. The value looks to be with the HT/FT at 31/50 with Paddypower. An away win is a massive 18/1 but looks a long shot. Hull V West Ham (Sunday, 19 October, 3pm) Up till this point, Hull have been the the surprise package and have pulled off some unbelievable results to climb up to 3rd in the league table. This Sunday they will host West Ham with both hoping to get their first ever win over their opponents in the league with no previous league encounters between the two sides being played before. Hull City have been tremendous so far which has largely been down to some superb long range efforts from summer signing Geovanni. He has already scored two crackers against both Arsenal and Tottenham and another strike this Sunday could ensure the result they will be desperate for. Hull are undefeated in four league games and will be looking to make it 3 straight league wins. They do defend well in numbers and can punish teams on the break and we won't back against them pulling off another great result this weekend. West Ham's new manager Gianfraco Zola will be looking for a massive improvement from his players after they were spanked by Bolton at home. Their away form has been poor this season losing two of their three away league fixtures. Without Dean Ashton they lack the presence of a regular goal scorer. Craig Bellamy has returned to fitness but he will need a couple more matches before he returns to his old goal scoring manner. This is a tough game to call and we can't find any case for West ham right now. Hull have been the surprise package this season we expect them to get some sort of result this Sunday. A home win is 6/4 with Bet365 and an away win is 2/1 with Skybet. Stoke V Tottenham (Sunday, 19 October, 4pm) This is a match we will reluctantly predict. We have two sides who have have only avoided defeat on two occasions so far. A win for either side looks to be so elusive right now. This will be the first ever Premiership encounter between then two sides and in all honesty it could go either way. Stoke go into this match with two back-to-back home defeats and despite some valiant displays, they fail to put chances to bed and continuously fail to keep a clean sheet. They have only kept one clean sheet so far this season. Their last home game was a tough match against Chelsea but it ended in another defeat. Their main goal threat will be from the air. Rory Delap's long throws and corners will be pretty much their only means of getting a goal. They don't have anyone who can cut defences open and create clear cut chances. Tottenham are the only side in the Premiership this season to not have registered a league win. Picking up just two points in 7 games has left them rooted to the bottom of the table. Something that was unthinkable at the start of the season. They have spent a lot over the summer on players, which would appear, don't play well together. Their last home game was embarrasing for the fans when they went down 1-0 to Hull. This is a fantastic opportunity for Juande Ramos to pick up his first three points. If they fail to do so then the pressure will seriously be on the manager. I've lost count of the number of times we have backed Tottenham to finally win. They won't have a better chance then this and at 13/10 we will reluctantly edge towards them. A home win is 9/4 with Bet365. Newcastle V Manchester City (Monday, 20 October, 8pm) Manchester City look a decent price as they make the short trip to Tyneside to take on Newcastle United this Sunday. Joe Kinner's rants lately have taken some of the lime light of Newcastle's off pitch concerns but they are still without a win since the 23rd August. Newcastle will be looking to put their horrendous form behind them and pick up a result on Monday. The game will be live on Setanta in what should be a very open and attacking affair. Newcastle's last league game was at Everton when they picked up a point in what was a decent result for them. That was their first point in five matches. Fans will be hoping that, that result will ignite their season and hopefully return to winnings ways. Manchester City will have to get over the 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool and overcome the fact that they will be without Zabaleta after he was sent off for a tough challenge on Xabi Alonso. Despite the loss, they did play very well in the opening 45 minutes and another performances like that could see them walk away with the win. Their league form is a lot better then Newcastle's but it could certainly be better. Wright-Philips and Robinho look to have form a deadly partnership down the wings already and Newcastle could find them hard to deal with. A home win is 2/1 with Bet365 which looks a good price. However, they are still under-performing and lacking confidence and we will take our chances with Mark Hughes's men at 6/4 with Coral. Labels: premier-league-betting, premier-league-preview, premiership-betting, premiership-preview Posted by soccerbetting.info @ 10:09 PM << Home