Last season, Stoke City only lost six games at the Britannia Stadium and Tottenham lost seven matches away from home, so perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if the Potters beat Spurs on Saturday. Given that Harry Redknapp is likely to be without Jermain Defoe and Luka Modric, one can’t help but feel that Ladbrokes offering 11/5 about the home team could be a price worth taking.
Kenwyne Jones is a player that could have left Sunderland for the Stadium of Light last season, although he’s recently signed at the Britannia Stadium instead and will be encouraged by some hopeless Tottenham defending in Switzerland on Tuesday night.
At the very least, we should take more than a passing interest in Ladbrokes’ 5/4 about Tony Pulis’ team on the Draw No Bet market where you’ll get your stake returned if the game is a draw.
Meanwhile, there’s no such thing as a betting certainty, although it’s hard to see how Wigan v Chelsea will be anything other than a resounding away win. The Blues were 6-0 victors on the opening weekend of the season, while their opponents were defeated 4-0 by Blackpool. The Blues beat Roberto Martinez’s team 8-0 at the end of last season and Paddy Power’s 2/7 will be a popular selection.
However, this could also be an opportunity to back Chelsea to lead at half-time and full-time at odds of 8/11 with bet365. While Carlo Ancelotti’s team might have lost 3-1 at the DW Stadium last season, Wigan look as though they are in all kinds of trouble and there’s also a case for backing Chelsea to ‘win to nil’ for this Saturday evening encounter.
On the correct score market, you can get odds of 66/1 with William Hill that Chelsea manage another 6-0 victory, while a 7-0 victory in favour of the Blues is 150/1 with Sporting Bet. While these might seem like ridiculous scorelines, the champions have goals in every department and Didier Drogba could be licking his lips at the thought of facing a shoddy Latics defence.
Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Bolton have a fantastic recent record against West Ham and may be able to take advantage of a team who are still getting their act together. While it’s generally considered that Avram Grant is a decent manager, he is still looking to strengthen a squad that came perilously close to relegation last term and the Wanderers could be worth a bet at odds of 12/5 with Stan James.
Owen Coyle’s team won 2-1 at Upton Park last season and looked in good shape despite drawing 0-0 with Fulham on Saturday. The manager will be setting up his team to win and this could be the game where Johan Elmander breaks his duck for the season. The Swede is an eye-catching 9/1 with Blue Square to score the first goal.
