Back Port Vale (5/6, Coral) to beat Wycombe
Port Vale were top of league 2 in December 2010 when then manager, Micky Adams, departed to take charge at Sheffield United. After Adams left, Port Vale became a shadow of the impressive side that led the league at Christmas, falling further and further down the league weekly and finishing the season outside the playoffs. The team was the same as the one before Christmas, but without Adams at the helm they looked lost. After an unsuccessful spell at Sheffield United Adam returned to his old post in May 2011. The squad is almost the same as the one he left behind and this season he has got them playing the same way they did before he left. Vale are second in the table after 12 league games, winning 8, drawing 2 and losing 2. Scoring the most goals of all 92 football league and premiership teams, with a monster 28 goals, conceding only 12. Vale are in a rich vein of form, winning their last 2 league outings easily, 2-0 away against a decent Exeter side and 3-0 at home to Oxford on Monday night. Confidence is high at Hamil Road, and rightly so. Mickey has got Vale playing the football they played in his first spell at the club and has got his attackers firing. Myrie Williams has 3 goals, Dodds and Vincent 4 each and Pope leads the way with 12 (scoring 4 against promotion favourites Rotherham)
Last weekend I selected Fleetwood to put Wycombe to the
sword. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and Wycombe came home 1.0 winners, winning
only their 4th game in their last 23 league outings – Typical!! I still maintain
that Wycombe are a poor side, however having viewed extended highlights thanks
to a Fleetwood fan (Big thanks to Ian Wells) I have to admit that Wycombe
looked considerably better than the side I have seen regularly this season. Fleetwood did have their chances to take
something from the game, hitting the woodwork and coming close on occasions,
the match was very much 50/50. I still
see Wycombe struggling to score goals this season and against a Port Vale side
who have consistently scored multiple goals a game Wycombe will struggle to
come home with a share of the spoils.
Even a rejuvenated Wycombe full of confidence after winning
their last 3 outings won’t be able to stop an equally confident Port Vale who
will be looking to close the gap at the top of the too Gillingham, and increase
their goal difference.
Back Over 2.5 goals (8/11, Stan James) in the West Ham/Southampton game
West Ham sit comfortably 8th in the league table. 3 wins, 2
draws and 2 losses. Scoring 8 goals and conceding the same in the process. If
you take away their last match against an in form Arsenal where they lost by 3
goals to 1, they have only conceded 5 goals in 6 games and 1 goal in 3 home
games. This should indicate that the
West Ham defence is a solid unit with the team defending well as a whole, but
to me, it doesn’t. The hammers beat a
below par Aston Villa in their first home game of the season, beat an out of
sorts Fulham to nil who were struggling for fire power due to losing Dempsey
and Dembele on deadline day (the day before that match). Conceded only once against a Sunderland side
who scored early and tried to see out the game 1.0, before conceding a late
equaliser. West Ham are a very open,
attacking side, when they play both teams have opportunities in front of goal,
with end to end football seen from both sides competing at Upton Park. A
defence of Demel, Collins, Tomkins and Reid doesn’t scream clean sheets, but a
creative midfield with the likes of Diame, Taylor, Noble and Nolan has goals in
them. They will feed off knockdowns from
Andy Carroll like they did so well against Fulham. Carroll was a thorn in
Fulham’s side all afternoon when they won 3-0 and was the focal point of every
attack. Add new summer signing Jarvis into the mix and he will deliver the
crosses for Andy to get on the end off.
Southampton have had the toughest opening fixtures of any
premiership side this season. After 7 games they have already played the likes
of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton. That’s one tough
fixture list for a newly promoted team, so it won’t surprise you that they have
conceded a whopping 20 goals! What will surprise you is they have scored a very
respectable 12 goals, scoring against all 4 of the big sides named above,
that’s good going! I rate Southampton highly, they have good, hardworking
players, and in Nigel Adkins they have a fantastic manager who knows what he is
working with, and how to get the best out of his players. I personally think they will survive their
debut season back in the Premiership as they are a very competitive side and
can give anyone a game on their day, as shown in their opening fixture when
they came back from behind to let a 2-1 lead slip away at the home of the
Champions, Manchester City, eventually losing the game 3-2. The Saints
certainly have goals in their side with the likes of record signing Ramirez
(unfortunately injured for this match), Lallana, Davis, young Rodriguez and
upfront Rickie Lambert, who is a natural goal scorer and reminds me of Alan
Shearer in the way he plays and constantly finds the back of the net. 6 out of the 7 games Southampton have played
in the league have been over 2.5 goals, and I don’t expect that to change
against West Ham on Saturday.
This open game between two evenly matched teams with similar
playing styles has goals written all over it. Neither team is one to sit back
or hold onto a 1 goal lead, both will be looking to attack and score more goals
than the other. Expect a highly entertaining end to end game with lots of
goals.
Back Arsenal (4/7, Paddy Power) to beat Norwich
Arsenal to beat Norwich is the selection for Saturday’s
evening Kick-off. As previously stated in my preview to the Arsenal/West Ham
match where we backed the Gunners to win at Even money, Arsenal have started
the season brightly. After tough opening
fixtures away at Liverpool and Man City as well as the home fixture against
Chelsea the gunners have got into their groove, and have won their last 2
matches. If you haven’t already read the
preview I suggest you do so, as it will help put your mind at ease that an
Arsenal win on Saturday evening is the correct selection. It’s often hard for
the away team after an international break with 2 games in that period, but
what with the extra days rest, now that internationals are played on a Friday
and Tuesday, there should be no complaints about recuperation time. Unlike a
Man City, Arsenal don’t have any South American players, so don’t have to worry
about them arriving home late and with Fatigue, the Ivory Coast didn’t have
games in this international break so Gervinho will be rested and ready to
play. Arsenal have a clean bill of
health with all their international players arriving home unscathed. Arsenal have looked bright this season,
starting the campaign with confidence and a belief that they can win major
honours this season with their current squad.
The Gunners have 12 points with 3 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss against
Chelsea. Since then they have convincingly won their last 2 matches, at home to
Olympiakos and away at West Ham. I don’t
expect this run to stop against a poor Norwich side who have conceded 17 goals
already this season.
Norwich are having a tough second year in the
premiership. The hardest task for any
promoted side that survive the drop in their first season in the top flight is
to repeat that achievement the following year.
The reason it’s so hard is, teams get to know your style of play, danger
men, weaknesses, and they hone in on them.
Norwich haven’t been helped by the loss of Paul Lambert, the man who
kept them up last season, and are yet to settle under new boss Chris Houghton. Norwich are finding out this season just how
tough life in the premiership is, with no wins and a goal difference of
-12! Grant Holt is the Canaries main
form of attack. He is big, strong and
brings others into the game with his great hold play with his back to
goal. In previous seasons Holt would
have caused Arsenal numerous problems.
However with the Arsenal back 4 looking so reliable thanks to the work
Steve Bold has done, and the transformation of Mertesacker, who now looks like
the German defender we all expected to see last season, Arsenal shouldn’t have
to many problems keeping Holt on a tight leash.
Without Holt as a focal point, Norwich don’t have many other attacking
options in their side. This could well be Norwich 3rd thrashing of the season
after conceding 5 at home to Liverpool, followed by 4 away at Norwich, how many
will Arsenal put past them Saturday night??!
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