It turned out to be a rather poor week last week, especially with Liverpool losing away to Sunderland. I was under the impression that Gerrard and Torres would make it which, as I stated in my preview, played a large part in my tipping of them. Hopefully I’ll get back on track this week.
Saturday 24th October (12.45)
English Premier League
Wolves v Aston Villa
Tomorrow’s meeting will be the first time these two rivals have played each other in the league for over 5 seasons. Villa will be looking to build on an excellent win over Chelsea last time out whilst Mick McCarthy’s Wolves are winless in their last 4 so will be looking to stop the rot tomorrow afternoon.
Wolves won the Championship at a canter last season but have stuttered on their return to England’s top flight. McCarthy has not invested too much money attempting to bring his squad up to the required quality and quantity to stay in the Premier League. Kevin Doyle, Greg Halford and Stefan Maierhofer have been 3 of his summer signings brought in for a bit of cash. The former Republic of Ireland manager has instead chose to persevere with the players who earned the clubs promotion last season. Stalwarts of that team such as Karl Henry, David Edwards and Richard Stearman have all played more often than not this term. From their opening 9 games, Wanderers have won twice and lost five. One of those wins came against Fulham at the end of September at Molineux. Their other home games have resulted in defeats to Portsmouth and West Ham with a draw against Hull City. If they wish to stay in the top division, their home form will have to improve sooner rather than later. Last time out, Wolves earned a credible draw away from home against Everton.
Martin O’Neill’s Villa have been very impressive for the majority of this season with only a couple of poor performances in matches where they would expect to pick up points in. There’s no secret or magical ingredient involved, it’s down to good organisation, hard work and skill and pace upfront. O’Neill has basically bought an entire new defence for his sides assault on a Champions League place next season, and it was two members of his new look defence that got the goals last weekend against Chelsea. Richard Dunne and James Collins scored from set-pieces in the come from behind 2-1 victory. With the World Cup coming up next summer, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey will be giving their all to earn a place on England’s plane to South Africa. Milner and Agbonlahor especially have upped their game this term and the signs are there that Young is getting back to his best. Villa’s last away match was a 2-1 reverse at Blackburn but they have already won on the road against Liverpool and in another Midland’s derby at Birmingham.
Wolves will be minus Maierhofer after the giant Austrian’s red card at Goodison last week so one of Sylvain Ebanks Blake, Andy Keogh or the fit again Chris Iwelumo will partner top scorer and record transfer Kevin Doyle tomorrow. It may be that McCarthy decides to play one up front with two wide players in support to keep it tight in the middle of the park, however, if he chooses to go this way it will mean an extremely hard shift for Doyle against a disciplined and well-oiled back Villa back four. O’Neill will more than likely play the same XI that started against Chelsea last week with John Carew preferred over Emile Heskey upfront. Luke Young is back training but is unlikely to start with Carlos Cuellar in great form at right back.
Villa have pace in abundance going forward and have the set piece delivery to make their clear height advantage worthwhile. They’ll get their fare share of opportunities in the air with Milner and Young’s expert delivery for the aforementioned Dunne, Collins, Carew and Cuellar. This is where I think the game will be won and as Wolves have already lost several goals from corners and free kicks I think the Villain’s will come through this match rather comfortably.
My selection: Aston Villa to beat Wolves
Best odds available: 23/20 available with several bookmakers including Bluesquare
English Premier League
Hull City v Portsmouth
The proverbial relegation 6-pointer takes place tomorrow at the KC stadium as 18th placed Hull City entertain bottom dogs Portsmouth.
I, along with many others, expected Hull to struggle this term after the way they finished last season coupled with the loss of a couple of important players in the shape of Michael Turner and Manucho. The biggest surprise I find is that there are still two teams below them in the table. Phil Brown has invested heavily in the last 10 months to improve results on the park with Jimmy Bullard, Stephen Hunt, Seyi Olofinjana and Kamel Ghilas all coming in for substantial fees. Strikers Jose Altiodre and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink have also been acquired to the ranks in an attempt to score more goals and ultimately, earn more points. Hull have won two and lost two at home this season which isn’t too bad at all. Their wins have came against Wigan and Bolton whilst they lost to Tottenham and Birmingham City.
Portsmouth have been in turmoil for most of the season but things may just be beginning to turn around for Paul Hart and his troops. Takeover rumours, aligned with player sales have meant that it’s never been easy for the Pompey on the park this season. The likes of Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar have all departed as has captain Sylvain Distin. Hart has not had much money to play with in his pursuit of replacements but has managed to add a plethora of new faces. The main one’s include Kevin-Prince Boateng, Tommy Smith, Steve Finnan and Jamie O’Hara on loan from Spurs. It has taken a month or two for Hart to assemble his strongest team from a large squad but it looks as though he’s getting closer to knowing what he wants and who he wants. They may only have three points (the win at Molineux) but they have performed admirably in the last month. That win was in between impressive performances in defeat against Everton and Spurs. The Spurs match inparticular was hard to take considering the chances the home side missed, most notably Aruna Dindane’s sitters.
Both sides desperately need a win tomorrow for obvious reasons, Portsmouth especially. Lose and they will be cast further adrift from the teams above them. Michael Brown will miss out after his late ordering off last week but Jamie O’Hara (ineligible to play last Saturday) will slot in for him. Otherwise it should be a similar side to the ones that have taken the field the last few games for the away side. The big news for Hull will be the likely starting place for Jimmy Bullard who was injured in January after his transfer to the tigers. He will be joined in tomorrow’s squad by Anthony Gardner and Nick Barmby.
I’ve been impressed with Portsmouth whenever I’ve seen them. They’re direct, play decent football and create a lot of chances. The only reason they’ve accumulated just 3 points is their poor finishing so I’m taking a chance and going with Paul Harts men in the hope they take a couple of the chances they are certainly going to make.
My selection: Portsmouth to beat Hull City
Best odds available: 15/8 with a couple of bookmakers including Coral
English Championship
Plymouth Argyle v Ipswich Town
Another battle between two sides at the wrong end of the table desperately in need of 3 points this time in the Championship as winless Town travel to Plymouth as Roy Keane’s men look to hold on to the lead for 90+ minutes.
Paul Sturrock’s Argyle have struggled for the most part this season, only recording two wins from their opening 13 matches. This form has led to calls for the manager to be sacked and the word around the club is that Sturrock may well be axed should Plymouth fail to get a result tomorrow against the only side currently below them in the table. Their only home win this season came against Scunthorpe at the start of the month, since then they have lost to Blackpool and Bristol City.
Ipswich have actually drawn more games than they have lost this season but the fact they have not won means they prop up the Championship at this point. They have drawn 3 of their last 4 matches, most recently against Watford at home during the week. Town’s Achilles heel has been conceding goals in the dying minutes of games. This has been the case in 3 of their last four matches, so instead of picking up 7 points in that time, they have only managed to gain a paltry two.
I watched a bit of Argyle’s match away at Blackpool last Saturday and they looked very much like a team who have stopped playing for their manager. There was no drive or energy about their performance and the heads were down as soon as Blackpool scorer their first. The opposite applies to tomorrow’s visitors who have fought and scrapped for everything in the last month. A win is just around the corner and I think they’ll repeat last year’s feat and come away from Home Park with maximum points.
My selection: Ipswich to beat Plymouth
Best odds available: 9/5 available with Ladbrokes
Happy punting and Good luck
