English Premier
2011-12-17 - Wolves vs Stoke City
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football : England : Premiership
Saturday 17th December - Kickoff 3:00pm
Wolves
Wolves currently occupy 17th place with 14 points from their first 15 games and are only 2 points ahead of the drop zone. If the Wanderers lose this big game at the weekend against Stoke they could find themselves in the bottom 3 and then the alarm bells will be ringing for McCarthy.
Wolves started the season so well picking up 7 points in their first 3 games but have only collected 7 more in the next 12! The good news is that both of their wins since the 3rd week of the season have come at home and it seems that if they are going to collect points it will be done at Molineux.
The home form ranks 12th in the league which is similar to last season's rank of 13th at this stage of the season. The problem for Wolves is that last season they beat both Chelsea and United at home and still needed a final day win to survive. This season that double looks unlikely so the games against midtable sides like Stoke must be games that they at least draw and definitely must not lose.
To be fair to McCarthy, the last 3 home games read WWD with wins over Sunderland (2-1), Wigan (3-1) and a draw to Swansea (2-2). All their home defeats came in the first part of the season and they remain unbeaten at home for over 2 months.
Spurs (0-2), QPR (0-3) and Newcastle (1-2) have collected 3 points here but Wolves look a better side at the moment and I fancy them to really push Stoke this weekend.
Wolves Team News
Craddock, Foley and Kightly miss this one whilst Jarvis and Edwards are doubts.
McCarthy will go 4-4-2 as his side will look for the win this Saturday. Up top Fletcher starts next to Doyle with a midfield of Edwards, Henry, O'Hara and Jarvis looking to control the game.
At the back Johnson and Berra will be in for a physical game against Crouch and Walters but both can compete well in the air. If the back line can cope with the aerial ball they have a great chance to claim something in this one.
Stoke City
The Potters come into this game in 8th spot and have just qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League. Times are good at the Britannia and they will be full of confidence coming into this one. Unfortunately for them they haven't the best record after Europa League games and also don't have a great record at Molinuex.
Still, Pulis will get this side fired up and you know for sure that they will give 100% and if Wolves don't get going early on and the fans get on their backs it plays straight into Stoke's hands.
The Potters on their travels have a decent record of 2 wins and a draw from their 7 away games this season. Stoke have wins at West Brom and Everton (both 0-1) and It wouldn't surprise me if they won by a similar scoreline this weekend.
In their defeats, Stoke were beaten at Sunderland (4-0), Swansea (2-0), Arsenal (3-1) and Bolton (5-0). The worrying thing is that when they go a goal behind on their travels they get battered! Losing by 4 and 5 at Bolton is awful given that Bolton only have 20 goals all season and got 5 of those against Stoke!
A massive negative for Stoke is their away goal difference, -11 goals from 7 goals despite winning 2 of their games is not ideal and with just 4 away goals all season they may struggle at Molineux this weekend.
Stoke City Team News
Collins and Sidibie miss out but it's a very settled lineup at Stoke these days and I don't see wholesale changes.
Crouch and Walters will start up top with Etherington and Shotton providing the width out wide. The central midfield battle of Whealan and Whitehead against Henry and O'Hara is key to this game and truth be told I fancy the Wolves duo to win this one.
At the back, Huth, Shawcross, Woodgate and Wilson make up the back four which is very settled and if they dig in can make like very tricky for any strikers as Spurs found out last weekend.
The Betting Verdict
I mentioned Stoke has a poor record at Molineux, in the last 12 games they have just 2 wins with Wolves winning 4 of them and the draw being the standout result in half the encounters.
A good example of where previous head to head isn't a great measure to predict games could be this one. In the last 3 years, all 3 results have occurred and the overs unders are 2-1 to overs so no great trend there either.
I'm going to take on the Stoke boys this weekend as I feel Wolves's needs are greater than Stokes and I like the momentum that they have gathered in recent weeks at Molineux.
Having conceded 14 in their last 5 away games I can't back Stoke, Wolves on the other hand have scored in 8 of their last 10 home games and 1 may be enough this weekend. It may not be a classic but Wolves at 2.55 is my pick in this one. Home Win.
Good Luck
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wolves 1-0 Stoke
