BLACKPOOL v STOKE CITY
Premier League
Saturday 30th April 2011 – Kickoff 3pm
Blackpool, who are level on points with relegation rivals Wigan, entertain in-form Stoke City at Bloomfield Road in Saturday’s relegation battle.
The Seasiders are on a wretched run of form at the moment with just one league win in their last fourteen matches (home & away), which was the surprise home win over Tottenham 3-1. Since then, their last four home matches have ended in three 1-3 defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal & Wigan respectively, with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.
As a result of this poor run of form, Blackpool now find themselves in a real relegation dog-fight and desperately need a win to pull away from the danger zone. Their home record stands at 4-4-9 26/34, and whilst they will always attack in front of their home fans, there’s always the danger of leaking goals at the back as we all know.
Incidentally, Blackpool have now scored in all of their 17 home matches so far, with an astonishing 15 of them resulting in over 2.5 goals! The Stoke fixture should be no exception…read on.
As for Stoke, they have hit a good run of form just at the right time with the prospect of the FA Cup final looming against Manchester City soon, and with this big occasion coming up for the club, competition for a starting place for the final will be fierce.
The Potters away record is none too great at 3-2-12 15/27 however, and their mid-table position is thanks largely to their strong home record. That said, their opponents today somehow find a way to gift the visiting side the odd goal or two and this pattern should follow again today.
As mentioned in my previous preview, Stoke possess players that can hurt a side like Blackpool down the flanks (ie Pennant) or from set-pieces (Delap delivering and Huth in the air), and even without Etherington who limped off against Wolves midweek, they have plenty of options going forward with the likes of Kenwyne Jones and Jonathan Walters.
The Verdict: Blackpool must and have to attack to get something from this match while Stoke are canny operators and will find their way to goal – I’m backing more goals at Bloomfield Road as a consequence. Blackpool might just sneak it 2-1…
Main Pick: Over 2.5 @ 1.79 with Betfair
