Premiership Preview by Matthew Chapple (25/26 October) (Thursday, October 23, 2008)

Premiership Preview for the weekend 25/26 October 2008 Everton V Manchester United (Saturday, 25 October, 12pm) Sir Alex Ferguson's men make the short trip to Merseyside this Saturday when they take on the blue side of Liverpool in Everton at Goodison Park. The match will be live on Sky Sports in what should be a lively encounter. A match which has seen Manchester United dominate in recent years winning 9 of the previous 12 league matches between the two sides. Everton go into this tough home fixture in terrible form having gone without a win for 4 games picking up just 8 points from their opening 8 league games. Defeats in the league to Arsenal and Liverpool weren't too surprising but dropping points at home to Newcastle and only managing a draw at Hull will have left some fans bitter. It would appear that their defence is at fault for their recent poor run of results. They have conceded a total of 18 goals so far from just 8 games. That is over 2 a game and currently the worst defensive record in the Premiership. The lack of signings over the summer seems to be telling and they already appear to be losing their grip over fifth position. Manchester United made a rather sketchy start but have slowly started to get back into gear. They thrashed West Brom at the weekend to record their third successive league victory and progress up the table into fifth. Wayne Rooney has been scoring goals for fun of late and against a side with a poor defensive record, we fancy him to bag another. Christiano Ronaldo has been back to full fitness for a while now but has yet to hit the sort of form which seen him score over 40 goals in just one season. Fergie should have no fresh injury worries and will look to field a full strength side this Saturday. Everton's defence is too vulnerable right now to be backing them and a Manchester United away win at 8/13 with Skybet looks decent value. This will be an open affair and the odds of for their to be 3 or more goals in the match looks great value at 4/5 with Bet365. Sunderland V Newcastle (Saturday, 25 October, 12.45pm) A local Derby in Tyneside as Newcastle make the short trip to the Stadium of Light to face Roy Keane's Sunderland side who have never beaten Newcastle in the Premiership. Their best ever result in the league came last season when they managed to draw 1-1 at home against the Magpies. Sunderland could only manage a point at the weekend against Fulham and they find themselves in the bottom half of the table in 12th position. Their home form this season has been inconsistent with their last home fixture ending 1-1 against Arsenal. They did however lose both of their first two home league games but did follow that up with a win over Middlesborough. The loan of Djibril Cisse looks to be a good capture as he adds pace to their attack while it is good to see Kieran Richardson back to full fitness and was desperately unlucky not to score on Saturday when he had a perfectly good goal ruled out. Newcastle have finally started to pick up points and did surprisingly well on Monday to pick up a point after going down to 10 men after just 15 minutes. They were slightly unfortunate not to win the game only to see Stephen Ireland score late on to level the match. Joe Kinnear certainly knows how to rant but it would appear that he has restored some confidence back into the players and although they haven't picked up a win since their victory over Bolton at the start of the season. Things are starting to look a lot brighter for Newcastle. With Newcastle playing a lot better football we think they will come out on top in the Tyneside derby. It will be a tight affair but an away win at 12/5 with Bet365 is our pick. A home win is 5/4 with Bluesquare. West Brom V Hull (Saturday, 25 October, 3pm) Two sides who have so far surpassed expectations in the league. West Brom are currently settled in mid table while Hull are remarkable third in the league above current champions Manchester United. Undoubtedly that will all change but it would appear that they are already pretty safe for survival this season. West Brom did well to hold Manchester United to 0-0 at Half-Time on Saturday but couldn't last the full 90 minutes and were thumped in the second half 4-0. They can play football, especially at home and they will be looking to get the ball down and play some decent football against a side they are more then capable of beating. Hull keep banging in surprise results and another league victory this Saturday wouldn't be a shock. A Dawson header was all that was needed to secure all 3 points on Sunday against West ham and they will be looking to carry their good form which has seen them win their last three league games and climb to third in the league. This is a tough match to call. You have to think that Hull's recent run of results has to end soon and for West Brom to do so this Saturday at 11/8 with Coral looks good odds. We won't be backing against Hull though and an away win is currently 9/4 with Skybet. The draw looks the most appealing at 12/5. We fancy these two sides to cancel each other out. Blackburn V Middlesborough (Saturday, 25 October, 5.30pm) Both of these sides go into the game with very little form as Middlesborough make the trip to Ewood Park to face Paul Ince's Blackburn side. A match which has seen Blackburn win 7 of the previous 12 league encounters between the two sides. Middlesborough winning just 3 with their last victory over Blackburn coming over 3 years ago in 2005. Blackburn could only manage a dull 0-0 draw on Saturday against Bolton which brought their points tally up to 11 in the league. No doubt that Paul Ince's main target for the season will be to get an automatic birth into the UEFA Cup via the league and they will need to up their performance level if they are to come close to achieving that target. Blackburn have managed just three league wins from their first 8 games and have struggled some what for goals scoring just 8 with only two of those being at home. Middlesborough's confidence will have taken a battering after their abysmal display against Chelsea at home last Saturday. They were completely outplayed and the 5-0 scoreline really could have been worse. With 5 defeats from 8 they will also be looking for a vast improvement in performances. Alfonso Alves has yet to show that he is worth the money they spent on him while they only real player worth noting this season is David Wheater who looks to be progressing into a fine defender. A tough match to call in which we will narrowly edge towards the home side. A home win is currently 11/10 with Coral while an away win is 11/4 with Bet365. Chelsea V Liverpool (Sunday, 26 October, 1.30pm) By far the most attractive match of the weekend as Liverpool have the tough task of ending Chelsea's long running undefeated home record and extending their win streak in the league to four games while Chelsea will be hoping to do exactly the same. Chelsea have been unstoppable this season and their performance against Middlesborough at The Riverside proved that they are indeed the team to beat this season. Despite several injuries to key players, they still had enough to demolish a full strength Middlesborough side. They are undefeated in the league this season and have only dropped points twice. However, both of those occasions were at home so Liverpool will take that small positive into the game at Stamford Bridge. Ashley Cole should return while Drogba and Ballack remain out injured for the long term. Having scored 19 and conceding just 3. Liverpool will know they have a mountain to climb if they are to get all three points this Sunday. Liverpool performed another spectacular comeback to see off a battling Wigan side at Anfield on Saturday. Another late Dirk Kuyt goal insured the points went home with the reds. Liverpool are also undefeated so far this season and are level on points with Chelsea at the top with only their inferior goal difference separating them. They will be without Fernando Torres who will be missed but if they are to be League champions then they will need to beat teams when they are without key players. Chelsea are justified favourites but whenever one of these sides has dropped points, so has the other. This one will be closer then some expect. A home win for Chelsea is 19/20 with Centrebet while an away win is currently 4/1 with Skybet which looks good, the most obvious option possibly the draw (3.40 at Coral). Really difficult to decide. Wigan V Aston Villa (Sunday, 26 October, 3pm) Martin O'Neill's men make the trip up to Wigan as he aims to edge closer to securing that elusive fifth spot. Wigan will also be gunning for the points this weekend in search of stretching the gap between them and the bottom three. An intriguing match it would appear. Steve Bruce will have been devastated that his side couldn't contain Liverpool for the final few minutes when his side had the lead but went on to lose the match in the dyeing minutes of the match. His side have put in some valiant displays this season but have failed to get the results to match on some occasions. Amr Zaki is by far the buy of the season to date with 7 goals already. He bagged two at Anfield on Saturday and we wouldn't be surprised if he bagged at least one this weekend. Aston Villa have made a decent start to their league campaign picking up 14 points from their opening 8 league games and are currently 6th in the table. They are a side brimming with young talent and full of pace with Agbonlahor and Ashley Young. Their defence is a slight concern though and havn't managed to keep a clean sheet in any of their away games this season. An even bigger cocnern is that match they played on Thursday in the UEFA Cup against Ajax. If the players manage to recover and regain fitness then they should make this a good game but if they show any signs of tiredness then Wigan could punish them. With Villa playing in the UEFA Cup we fancy Wigan to take something from this game. They are currently 81/50 with Paddypower for the win while an away win is 9/5 with Boylesports. We fancy the odds for Wigan to win or draw at 9/20 with SportingBet. Tottenham V Bolton (Sunday, 26 October, 3pm) Where do we start with this fixture. Two sides at the foot of the table with one especially in serious trouble. Gary Megson takes his Bolton side to White Hart Lane to face a Tottenham side that has yet to register a league victory this season. Bolton will also take the good omen that Bolton have the better head-t0-head record with their 7 wins to Spurs's 3. Tottenham really are a club in crisis with last Sunday's 2-1 away defeat to Stoke digging Juande Ramos an even deeper pit. Tottenham are currently the only side in the Premiership who have yet to win and have picked up just two points all season. For a club predicted to push the top four they are a million miles away from where they want and expected to be. It is hard to nail down the problem but the obvious one is confidence. The players are seriously lacking it and a win could ignite their season. Whether they get it this Sunday is another matter but they will have to pick up a win sooner rather then later else Ramos could be heading out the club. Bolton are only 5 positions above Spurs in the league but are 6 points clear of their opponents. They were also expected to be thereabouts so there position of 15th isn't a shock. They have only managed two wins so far with their biggest problem being the lack of quality forwards at the club. Johan Elmander has suffered several injuries while Davies won't bag you 15 goals a season. It is hard to see who will get the goals for them and we wouldn't be surprised if they went to Tottenham this Sunday and defended in numbers. Tottenham are too short to be backing with their current form. They are 21/10 with Bet365 while an away win for Bolton is 10/3 with Betdirect. We fancy the draw at 12/5 with Coral. Both of their league meetings last season ended 1-1 and another result like that wouldn't be a shock. Manchester City V Stoke (Sunday, 26 October, 3pm) The richest club in the world are all set to welcome Tony Pulis Stoke City. The two sides have never met in the league before and both will be eager to register their first league win over the other. Mark Hughes will be bitterly disappointed with the draw at St.James Park. Newcastle went down to 10 men early on in the game and City failed to put their opponents to the sword and paid the price. The defeat before the international break to Liverpool will have knocked the players for six also but they will see this as a game which should provide them with 3 points. Robinho came to City full of promise but has failed to deliver some what at this early stage although Shaun Wright-Phillips has looked lively down the right flank. Stoke City picked up a massive 3 points on Sunday beating a struggling Tottenham side 2-1 at home. Their opponents also went down to 10 men early on and they also struggled to take advantage of their superior numerical advantage. They did eventually get the winner late into the second half but they still remain in the bottom three. Stoke aren't a side who play attractive football. They have a habit of using the long ball and rely heavily on set pieces for goals. They could get outplayed if they are not careful this Sunday. Manchester City have to be backed despite being firm favourites for the match. They are currently ½ with Boylesports while an away win is 13/2 with Bet365. A little short in my opinion. West Ham V Arsenal (Sunday, 26 October, 4pm) Arsenal make the short trip to take on West Ham United at Upton Park this Sunday in what looks a tough match for the home side. West Ham do have a decent league record over Arsenal though with both side winning 3 of the previous 8 league encounters. West Ham are still without Dean Ashton through injury and will be looking in the direction of Craig Bellamy for the goals in what looks a poor strike force currently. Carlton Cole isn't and never will be a regular goalscorer while Luis Boa Morte only strikes every leap year it would appear. I do have concerns over West Ham right now especially after two back-to-back league defeats against sides they would have expected to pick up points against. They are surprisingly flimsy at the back and look bewildered up front. Arsenal shouldn't have too many problems exploiting West Ham's frailties. Arsenal will be in a buoyant mood after securing an impressive Champions League victory over Fenerbache in Turkey on Tuesday with a relatively young side. They also did well to come from behind on Saturday to beat Everton at The Emirates. Adebayor appears to gone back to his goal scoring manner while Nasri's return to fitness has boosted their midfield numbers. Arsenal last away game in the league did finish 1-1 against Sunderland but we fancy them to take all the spoils this Sunday. Arsenal really shouldn't have too many problems and an away win at 13/20 looks a decent proposition. If you want to take your chances with a home win then you can get it at a big price of 6/1 with Skybet. Portsmouth V Fulham (Sunday, 26 October, 5pm) Fulham make the trip down South to take on Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth side at Fratton Park. With both sides only managing to pick up one point after draws with Aston Villa and Bolton respectively, both will be eager to take all the spoils on Sunday. Portsmouth picked up a decent point on Saturday when they held Aston Villa at home. After their last away game seen them shop 6 goals, it was a vast improvement. Their away performances have been poor so far though with just the one win on their travels so far and have conceded 10. Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch have already settled down and started scoring which is more then can be said for the Fulham strikers. The match on Thursday in the UEFA Cup could take affect so punters will have to be wary of that factor. Fulham will have the benefit of having a week to rest while Portsmouth has a European game in mid-week. They are currently one off the relegation places and Gary Hodgeson will be desperate to enforce a gap on his rivals. They have however succumb to 3 straight successive league defeats away from home and have managed just one goal in three away games. They will have to pull something out of the hat though if they are to come away from Fratton Park with all three points. A home win looks rather appealing despite Portsmouth being odds on at 4/5 with Centrebet. An away win at 4/1 looks to small in our opinion for a side that is has lost three successive away games. Get on the home win in what should be a comfortable win for Pompey. Labels: premier-league-betting, premier-league-preview, premiership-betting, premiership-preview Posted by soccerbetting.info @ 4:28 PM << Home