English Premier
2010-11-13 - Stoke City vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 13 November 2010 - Kickoff 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Stoke City
You could sense the relief in the fans, the players and, most importantly, Tony Pulis when Dean Whitehead stroked home the goal that turned out to be the winner for Stoke against Birmingham on Tuesday. Tension had been growing at the Brittania as their side threw away a 2 goal lead, while dropping down the table in recent weeks.
The win actually only moved Stoke up 1 place to 16th in the table after the full midweek fixtures were completed. They improved their total points to 13, but are still only 2 points clear of 18th placed Wigan. Stoke also improved their home record to 3-1-2 this season, scoring 9 goals and conceding 8.
Stoke had lost 4 straight Premier League games before Tuesday night, but Tony Pulis was quick to point out that only 1 of those was at home. Stoke have won 3 of their last 4 at home in all competitions, but they have conceded at least 2 goals in each of their last 2 at the Brittania Stadium. The Potters have kept just 1 clean sheet at home in the League this season.
Ryan Shawcross will return to the side after serving suspension, while Ricardo Fuller may be rested even after his superb performance and goal against Birmingham.
Possible Stoke City Line Up:
Begovic, Huth, Collins, Shawcross, Faye, Whitehead, Delap, Wilson, Etherington, Walters and Jones (4-5-1)
Liverpool
After a solid performance against Chelsea last week at home, Liverpool might feel a little disappointed after their draw at Wigan during the week. Roy Hodgson will be pleased that Fernando Torres seems to be back amongst the goals, but will also be hoping his side can push on from recent results.
The Reds sit in 9th place in the Premier League, but will be aware that they have not really lost touch with those fighting for Champions League and Europa League places, the minimum expectation for the side. Liverpool have 16 points this season, mainly from Anfield, but they have improved their away record to 1-2-3 in recent weeks, scoring 4 goals and conceding 9.
Liverpool improved their recent record to 6 unbeaten with the draw at the DW Stadium, although that result did halt a run of 4 successive wins in all competitions. They are unbeaten in their last 3 away games since losing 2-0 at Goodison Park to Everton.
Sotirious Kyrgiakos is available for selection after missing the last 2 games. Joe Cole and Glen Johnson will need late fitness tests to determine their availability. Raul Meireles had to come off on Wednesday after suffering affects from a virus and may not play here.
Possible Liverpool Line Up:
Reina, Carragher, Konchesky, Skrtal, Krygiakos, Lucas, Poulson, Kuyt, Maxi, Gerrard and Torres (4-4-2)
Head to Head
3 of the 4 games between the sides in the Premier League have ended in draws, including both games here at the Brittania Stadium. The only other game was a 4-0 win for Liverpool at Anfield.
Last season, Stoke scrambled a 90th minute equaliser to draw this fixture 1-1.
Prediction
It is hard to make a judgement call on which of these sides will win the game due to recent confidence issues. Both have been struggling for form, and you can see a little bit of nerves when they are defending in recent games.
This leads me to suggest both teams scoring as my bet on this game. Stoke showed their fragility even after taking a 2-0 lead over Birmingham and have been struggling for clean sheets, while Liverpool themselves have been better in defence in recent games but are still not inspiring 100% confidence.
I was thinking about recommending Fernando Torres to score again after he did the job on Wednesday, but felt the 'both teams to score' would be the better option at around the same price.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Stoke City 1-1 Liverpool
