Saturday’s British betting preview

Saturday 16^th January

English Premier League

Stoke City v Liverpool (12.45)

After a pathetic performance on Wednesday night, Liverpool must pick themselves up after their cup defeat to Reading when they travel to the Britannia Stadium to face a stuffy Stoke side.

Tony Pulis has never made any apologies for his side’s preferred style of play, especially whilst playing at home. Stoke are direct, physical and rely very much on their strength and presence at set pieces. These strengths have turned them into an established Premier League club, less than two years since winning promotion. Some people may debate that but they have never been in any real danger of being relegated, either this season or last. The majority of other clubs do not go to the Britannia expecting to win as they would elsewhere which is a testament to the industry of Pulis and his players. Tomorrow’s match against Liverpool will be their 11^th home match of the season and they’ll be desperate to add to their 5 wins. The biggest surprise about their home form is probably the fact they’ve lost 3 already this season. They have lost to Chelsea and Manchester United which is completely excusable whilst their other defeat was against high flying Birmingham. These defeats signify that it pays to be in good form before coming to the Britannia, as Stoke will not let you get into a rhythm, they’ll be at you from the off.

Liverpool are something of a crisis club at the minute, arguably one of many in the Premier League. Rafa Benitez is for the first time under immense pressure from the fans. Their patience is growing thin with the Spaniard after another cup exit in midweek. That defeat was compounded by injuries to Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun. These 3 are probably the Reds most dangerous and influential players, they’ll miss their presence a great deal as they are also big characters who would be vital in tomorrow’s kind of atmosphere. Pepe Reina and Javier Mascherano should return to the squad and there could also be a debut for Maxi Rodriguez who signed in midweek. ‘Pool’s away form has been hit and miss to say the least. They have won 4 on the road but lost 5, drawing 1. This is the away form of a mid-table side, not of a side who were expected to mount a serious challenge for the title. Their away defeats include reverses at Sunderland, Portsmouth and Fulham, teams whose approach to the game is not too dissimilar to that of tomorrow’s opponents. A strong home defence, a hard working midfield with a touch of creativity and a front two full of power and pace.

Liverpool laboured to a draw in this fixture last season but I can envisage things being even worse this time around. They are completely lacking in confidence and consistent form. Reading were far more inventive, created more chances and just looked a whole lot hungrier than Liverpool on Wednesday night. I know it’s based on nothing more than assumption, but it looks as though certain players have stopped playing for Benitez for whatever reason.

 Liverpool struggle at the best of times when teams take the game to them and control the tempo, something at which Stoke have mastered at home. Pulis will know there will never be a better time to play a Liverpool side and he’ll get every last ounce of effort out of his side in tomorrow’s lunchtime kick off. You could have had 6/1 for Stoke on Wednesday, but as events have unravelled since then, we’ll have to make do with 29/10.

My selection: Stoke City to beat Liverpool at a best priced 29/10 with Bwin

English Premier League

Manchester United v Burnley

It’s a baptism of fire for new Burnley manager Brian Laws as he takes charge of his first game which is a visit to Old Trafford to take on the champions.

Manchester United have, for me anyway, failed to click thus far this season. Sir Alex Ferguson has had to constantly chop and change, especially at the back thanks to a plethora of injuries. He has been unable to field a consistent line-up for any real length of time which has proved to be detrimental to his sides on field performances. Currently sitting 2^nd in the table, a point behind Chelsea who have a game in hand, they know they have to put a run of results together in order to claim their 4^th title in a row. There were signs last week away to Birmingham that they were becoming more fluent and creating more chances, it’s just a matter of now being able to take them. Wayne Rooney is creating chances for others whilst also contributing as the club’s top scorer. He’s easily their most important and influential player and his form of late must serve as inspiration to others around him who may not be performing as well.

Burnley begin life without Owen Coyle and it will be interesting to see how well the players react to a change in management. For many of them, their former manager would have brought them to the club in the first place so they will need to adapt to a change in personnel, a different take on the game and possibly being used in unfamiliar systems. Brian Laws must think he’s won a watch with his quick fire appointment after being sacked by a club who find themselves in the relegation picture in the league below. He will be under no illusions as to how difficult it will be for his new team to stay in the division. The signs were there before Coyle left that they were beginning to struggle and their home form was not as good as it had been in the earlier stages of the season. Their porous defence must be improved in this window as they have lost 40 goals already and look like conceding at least a couple in every match they play away from home.

United normally come on strong in the second half of the season and will strive to continue this trend starting tomorrow. Nothing less than a win will do for Ferguson’s troops and a good win may well act as a catalyst for the remainder of the season. Goal difference may yet prove to be important when the honours are handed out in May so it will be no surprise if they put a few past the worst away defence in the division.

My selection: Manchester United (-2) to beat Burnley at a best priced 11/8 with Boylesports

Scottish Premier League

Celtic v Falkirk

Neither of these sides have kicked a ball in anger for two weeks so both will be eager to get back into action as Celtic entertain bottom dogs Falkirk.

Celtic’s last match was the derby game at Rangers where they completely dominated and should have had the game wrapped up by half-time. However they failed to take their chances and ended up drawing 1-1, remaining 7 points behind their rivals but with a game in hand. Tony Mowbray has started his mid-season cull by getting rid of 4 players, including Barry Robson and Captain Gary Caldwell. Both have departed to England with the South Korean Ki being singed as Robson’s replacement along with Dutch centre half Jos Hooiveld coming into take Caldwell’s position. The latter will, however, miss out tomorrow as he is not yet fit but Ki may feature at some point. The Bhoys know they can’t afford any slip-up’s in these kind of games so are sure to come out all guns blazing in an attempt to put the game to bed early doors.

Falkirk started the season very slowly and as a result find themselves playing catch-up with everyone else in the league. Eddie May has attempted to rectify this in the 2^nd half of the season by bringing in more experience. Former Celtic player, Colin Healy has joined on loan from Ipswich whilst former Leeds United striker Enoch Showumni has also come in on a short term deal to bolster May’s options upfront. Falkirk have won only once on the road this season in 9 games, losing 5. They will need to improve this form and become harder to beat if they are to move up the table and avoid relegation.

The last time these two sides met they played out a 3-3 thriller at the Falkirk Stadium but things should prove to be different when they meet tomorrow at Parkhead. Falkirk have lost on each of their last 9 league visits to Celtic Park. Their last 3 encounters in Glasgow’s East End have seen 10 goals conceded and none scored – I can’t see this changing for the better tomorrow. Celtic know that they need to make up their goal difference on Rangers and these kind of matches are the time to do that.

One player who has started to fulfil his potential is Celtic striker Marc Antoine Fortune. The former West Brom marksman is beginning to show why Mowbray shelled out £3.8m for him in the summer. He had an excellent game against Rangers which was on the back of 3 goals in December. He’ll be out to add to his tally and his strength, allied with his pace and smart running could prove decisive against a weak Falkirk defence.

My selections: Celtic (-2) to beat Falkirk at a best priced 6/4 with Skybet

                             Mark Antoine Fortune to score anytime at a best priced 5/4 with Bet365