England: Premier Aug 30-31

[kevsul]

Originally Posted by Carl

We ( Blackburn ) do have a poor record at Upton Park



but I do think with West Hams current problems and the pressure from the fans for Curbs job I think we will get a result today. But what Im looking at is the overs, I think all this season we will leak goals until the team is settled and Robbo gets his confidence back.

My bets :
OVER 2.5 GOALS with Bet365 @ 2.10
CS: 2-3 @ 33/1 Bet365
Blackburn win @ 2/1 StanJames

20 minutes in and that 2.5 is a winner

also on for the 3-2

[SloppyJ]

Originally Posted by SloppyJ

Different story today though. We've (Arsenal) pretty much got a full strength team now, minus a new defensive midfielder and Rosicky. Fabregas is back and that is massive.

We were creating chances for fun against Twente, and it should only take a goal for Van Persie to find his shooting boots. Adebayor was rested during the week so will be more than up for this as he continues to try and win back the fans.

Obviously I could be totally wrong, but it just doesnt seem worth the risk to me and 2-1 is more than a possible scoreline in my eyes.

Take into account Newcastle had a long game against Coventry midweek and they're also missing several key players and it leads me to think Arsenal will take this game quite easily.

Arsenal -1 would be my bet at 5/4.

Hope you didnt put your money on your tip mate.

[Spooner]

Originally Posted by Spooner

Finally a winner.

[botakbear]

Originally Posted by botakbear

Middlesbrough vs Stoke City

Statistical Analysis

Both teams are tied on points in this new season with 3 points each, taken at their respective home grounds. Boro won at home against spurs with a 2-1 score line, whereas stoke city lost their opening game at Bolton by 3 goals to 1. Since the start of preseason friendlies to their last game played in the carling cup, both teams have played 10 games. Coincidentally, both teams recorded 6 wins, 2 draws, and 2 loses. However, the difference between the sides as observed from their games played is in their goal difference. Boro has a superior goal difference of +15 compared to Stoke’s +4. Boro scored 27 goals in total averaging 2.7 goals per game whereas Stoke achieved a total of 17 goals averaging 1.7 goals per game. The ratio of goals conceded is therefore 12:13. It has been noted that Boro has solved their goal scoring difficulties encountered last season with a talented front line featuring goal scoring machine Alves, hardworking Tuncay and the excellent Mido from the bench. 3 games played since the opening day of the season has saw Boro scoring 7 goals at home, 2 against spurs and 5 against midweek carling cup tie against Yeovil Town. Stoke themselves have shown their scoring power too with 7 goals in total and 4 away from home. However, Stoke’s defence is their weakest department having conceded an equal number of 7 goals in total, 3 against Bolton, 2 against Aston Villa and 2 against midweek carling cup opponent, Cheltenham Town. Statistically, Boro is more than capable of obtaining one goal more than Stoke whichever the score line.

Team Analysis
Boro has started this season with flair, determination and confidence. Their star player Steward Downing has kept faith in Southgate’s ability and remained at the club. We can see why with the displays by the team’s play in the first 3 games of the new campaign. They are playing with rejuvenated confidence and attacking their opponents with flair, scoring 8 goals thus far this season. Even the meanest defence of Liverpool were unable to prevent Boro from scoring let alone Stoke City’s fragile defence which has conceded 7 goals in their 3 competitive games this season averaging of more than 2 goals a game. Boro boasting a strong strike force of Alves, Tuncay and Mido will no doubt be looking to split open Stoke’s poor defence. With Downing providing the crosses from the left and Aliadiere pace on the right, there will be plenty of support for goals. Stoke’s strength is in their direct style of attack with Ricardo Fuller providing the physical strength upfront. Southgate has long observed that and has mentioned in their pre match preparation that they have been conducting the necessary defending training to cope with Stoke’s attack of long balls into the box. As observed in their two games against Spurs and Liverpool, Boro’s defence marshalled by captain Pogatetz together with Robert Huth, David Wheater and new signing Justin Hoyte, are more than capable of keeping dangerous attacking teams at bay. Although they will be without their first team goal keeper Brad Jones, his deputy Turnbull has showed he is capable of stepping up to the task after his fine display at Anfield. Moreover, Boro will enjoy the strong support of their home fans who are loving the way Boro are playing at the moment. Stoke will face the mental difficulty of all promoted teams to obtain a result without their home fans support which they have already failed to do so on their opening game away at Bolton, losing by 3 goals and only obtaining a consolation goal towards the end. Therefore should everything turns out right, Boro will split open Stoke’s defence and keep Stoke’s attack at bay, therefore obtaining a comfortable victory at home.

Recommendation: Middlesbrough -1 AH

Match Review

The first half an hour saw Stoke City playing some good football, bossing the midfield. However, when Boro does attack Stoke did not look comfortable at all, and the resulting defending saw Amdy Faye earning a red card with a rash challenge outside the box. Whats next was a brilliant Alves freekick. Down to ten men, Stoke had no choice but to focus on their defence. Boro had many chances to score but were unable to convert. What followed next looked like a narrow victory for Boro with a 84th min winning goal after Justin Hoyte unlucky own goal cancelled out Alves opener. But the going of the match suggested otherwise. Had Downing scored his penalty or Justin Hoyte prevented his unlucky own goal, a two nil score line was the most justifiable score line. Nevertheless, our statistical analysis was spot on with Boro scoring a goal more than Stoke.

[WHUPUNTER]

Boro won for me but yet again we get a result when unexpected to. I think ill leave West Ham out of selections for a while as we are just too unpredictable. 4-1 flattered us and a draw would have been a fair result but we put our chances away.

[AJ]

Only match of interest for me today is Sunderland to beat Man City.

I expect to see a Euro hangover from City, 120 minutes in midweek must have an impact on them.

Sunderland have looked good so far this season, I expect this to continue.

It's also the last leg of a treble for me from yesterday, I gave serious thought to laying it off, but decide to let it ride.

[Spooner]

Agree with AJ...

Sport	Football (Eng - Prem)
Event	Sunderland v Manchester City
Selection	Sunderland -1
Strength	10/10
Date	31/08/2008
Bookmaker/Price	Betfred @ 4.50 (Back)
Reasoning	Some will think 'Your hoping a bit' but I can see this being an easy victory for Sunderland today. City have problems, They were beat 4-2 away to Villa first game of the season and although they beat West Ham 3-0, West Ham were playing with 10 men for the 2nd half and just rolled over when the first went in. They scraped through in the Uefa Cup through a late own goal and then won on penalties. Sunderland held Liverpool for most of the first game it took a wonderfull Torres strike to break there defence. They beat Spurs away from home 2-1 last weekend which was a great result for them. Keane has bought well and I can see this Sunderland team doing well this season. Great price.

[Jonesy Knows]

Sunderland v Man City - 15:00 BST Sunday 31st August 2008

Head 2 head

Apr 12, 2008 Premiership Sunderland AFC 1 - 2 Manchester City FC +i Elano (Penalty Goal) 79' D. Whitehead 82' D. Vassell 87' D. Whitehead 18' G. Fernandes 40' P. Bardsley 22' V. Corluka 73' N. Nosworthy 78' Nov 5, 2007 Premiership Manchester City FC 1 - 0 Sunderland AFC +i S. Ireland 66' N. Nosworthy 79' Mar 5, 2006 Premiership Manchester City FC 2 - 1 Sunderland AFC i Aug 23, 2005 Premiership Sunderland AFC 1 - 2 Manchester City FC i Apr 21, 2003 Premiership Manchester City FC 3 - 0 Sunderland AFC i Dec 9, 2002 Premiership Sunderland AFC 0 - 3 Manchester City FC i Dec 23, 2000 Premiership Sunderland AFC 1 - 0 Manchester City FC i Aug 23, 2000 Premiership Manchester City FC 4 - 2 Sunderland AFC i

Sunderland entertain Man City here, however stats prove Sunderland don't do too well v Man City!

Last 7 games
Man City 6 wins
Sunderland 1 win

This early in the season it's all about getting the players up and running and match fit and Thursday's result for Man City in the UEFA Cup will only have put a sharper edge on their players and at the end of that was a win which will only bolster morale. Sunderland themselves were taken to extra time on Thursday v Notts Forest in the Carling Cup so tired legs and all that argument is overlooked! Both in same position on that front.
Sunderland haved performed well so far this season and will be expecting to be up there fighting for European places come the end of the season, judged on how much they have spent so far. But when it comes down to quality and a team of players who know each other on the pitch then City is the winner! Sunderland are still bedding players in so for this reason and based on Citys' record against Sunderland I'm going against the grain here and backing a City win!
Yesterday everybody seemed to be backing Blackburn to beat West Ham and if a little look at the previous records between them 2 it would have showed a similar pattern to this game in that West Ham had won the last 6 out of 7 games v Blackburn! a lot of fingers got burnt on that result!
I expect a few more fingers burnt today!

Suggested bets:

Last 2 games v these 2 show it being a tight 1st half and then City finally overcoming Sunderland in the 2nd half!

Half Time - Draw / Full Time - Man City @7.00

Man City to win 2 v 1 @10.00

Man City win @3.00

All prices courtesy of Paddypower

[AK1979]

Sport	Football (Eng - Prem)
Event	Villa v Liverpool
Selection	0-10 corners
Strength	10/10
Date	31/08/2008
Bookmaker/Price	Paddy Power @ 2.20 (Back)
Reasoning	Most firms are going odds on with this so to get 5/4 with paddypower is welcome. 2 contrasting sides in that Villa play with a lot of width whilst Liverpool with very little. Liverpool are defensively solid, and tend to take a conservative approach away from home - this is evident in the corners they concede - their last 6 games away from Anfield have yielded only 8.17 corners. Even strong offensive sides like Arsenal and Man U only managed to win 5 and 3 corners respectively. Villa tand to win their fair share- 7 8 and 7 won against Wigan, Birmingham and Man City respectively. They will find Liverpools defence harder to breach than those 3 sides.

[blackcrow]

Chelsea -1.5
Chelsea have a great home record against Tottenham where they have won 11 and drawn 5 of their last 16 games at Stamford Bridge. They have scored 5 goals in winning their first two games while Spurs have lost both games 2-1. Cheslea showed that they mean business with an emphatic victory on opening day and that win over Pompy backed up their title aspirations while Spurs are still looking to get into some form. Chelsea win confortably here

Liverpool
The loss of Gerrard is a major blow for Liverpool however it was obvious that in both games this season he has been playing below his best. The return of a fit and raring to go Mascherano should more than make up for this as the problems that Liverpool have had have started down the middle of the park. Mascherano should plu the gaps there and then this should free up Alonso to get forward more and hook up with Torres and Keane.
Defensively, Liverpool should be able to keep Carew and Agbonlahor quiet as Skrtel and Carragher should do the job for them. If Torres gets some service then he ahs the opportunity to run at the Villa defence which was exposed last week by Stoke quite easily.
What makes this bet even more attractive is Liverpool's record against Villa where they have won 9 and drawn 5 fo the last 14 clashes between the two sides.

[karan265]

I do fancy Sunderland to bag all 3 points today as Roy Keane has done pretty well on the transfer market and City are having squad problems. They were average in midweek in the UEFA cup and I don't expect them to improve this soon.

Sunderland to win @ 2.10 (SportingBet)

[Jonesy Knows]

Chelsea v Spurs - 13:30 BST Sunday 31st August 2008

Chelsea hope to maintain their 100% record so far in the premier league against a Spurs side who have had more success than most v Chelsea in recent games between the 2:

Head 2 head

Mar 19, 2008 Premiership Tottenham Hotsp... 4 - 4 Chelsea FC +i Loading... Feb 24, 2008 League Cup Tottenham Hotsp... E 2 - 1 E Chelsea FC +i Loading... Jan 12, 2008 Premiership Chelsea FC 2 - 0 Tottenham Hotsp... +i Loading... Apr 7, 2007 Premiership Chelsea FC 1 - 0 Tottenham Hotsp... +i Loading... Mar 19, 2007 FA Cup Tottenham Hotsp... 1 - 2 Chelsea FC i Mar 11, 2007 FA Cup Chelsea FC 3 - 3 Tottenham Hotsp... i Mar 11, 2007 FA Cup Tottenham Hotsp... 3 - 3 Chelsea FC i Nov 5, 2006 Premiership Tottenham Hotsp... 2 - 1 Chelsea FC

Chelsea just have the edge in head to heads in the last 8 games:

Chelsea 3 wins
Spurs 2 wins
Drawn 3

Spurs yet again have started the season miserably with 2 defeats when their fans were predicting big things this season judged on their acquisitions so far!
Chelsea have started impressively with a 4 nil and 1 nil win and I expect their homeground this season to be a bloodshed for many a team!
I expect Chelsea to be scoring for fun on their homeground and away just doing enough for a win as demonstrated so far in their last 2 games!
Spurs defence looks like it is a work in progress with them still trying to find a suitable blend to stop the hemorrhage of goals against them.
This is the worst possible fixture for Spurs after letting in 4 goals in their first 2 games and that defence will be their undoing today!

Suggested bets:

Chelsea -2 HCP @4.00

Chelsea to score 4 or more goals @5.50

Chelsea to win by 4 or more goals @8.50

Chelsea 4 v 0 @15.00

F Lampard anytime goalscorer @2.62

Deco anytime goalscorer @4.50

All prices courtesy of Paddypower

[$@m]

can i ask where u got your statistics from please mate. just seen on paddy power that for tottenham not to score is 5/6 and want to know when they last scored at chelsea in the league. thanks

[Jonesy Knows]

Hi Undertaker!

www.soccerway.com

has all the stats regarding head to heads

http://www.soccerway.com/match/premi...l-club/636947/

[$@m]

thanks mate for the quick reply

what u think of the bet for tottenham not to score to go with all of your other bets

[Jonesy Knows]

I think Spurs not to score could be a good bet but there's no value in something odds against. When I bet I like to at the least, have the possibility of doubling my money.

Good Luck with your bets today

[Mr Intensity]

LAY MAN CITY @ 3.4 Betfair. This looks like a solid price. Man City got a good win over West Ham last weekend but only took control when the Hammers were down to 10 men. They had a tough match in Europe midweek and this is going to be a really tough week. I've been very impressed with Sunderland, they've made some quality signings over the summer and have looked reasonable so far. They've had a bit of a tough start against Liverpool and Spurs and have done well in those games, and at home this is a good chance to get some points.

[malcolmas]

Chelsea v Spurs
PP are doing a special on this game - if Deco scores anytime they will refund CS/LS & Scorecast bets.
Deco is in form, scoring in the last 2 games, so it is a reasonable insurance if selections don't come in.
Cannot see anything but a Chelsea win but the outright win odds are not attractive.
Chelsea have not conceded in their 2 games so far and Spurs are not playing as a team yet.
So two Correct Scores for me will be 2-0 & 3-0, with another punt on Joe Cole for 1st scorer.
Selections: CS 2-0 (5/1), 3-0 (15/2)
1st Goalscorer Joe Cole (15/2) All PP