English Premier
2011-04-23 - Aston Villa vs Stoke City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 23 April 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Aston Villa
First things first- I really hope Gerard Houllier makes a full recovery from the ailment that has him back in hospital and likely to miss the rest of the season. Good luck Mr Houllier!
Aston Villa have had an extremely tough season since the departure of Martin O'Niell and the subsequent adjustment needed to take in Gerard Houllier's tactics. However, recent results have seen them push up a tight Premier League table and they have a real chance to finish with a flourish.
The Villians are up to 10th in the Premier League thanks to an important 3 points gained at Upton Park last week. They now have a 7 point advantage over Blackpool in the final relegation place and are perhaps even looking up the table to finish as high as possible with 8th being a distinct possibility. They are 7-5-4 at Villa Park this season, scoring 23 goals and conceding 17.
The defeat here to Wolves in the middle of March looked to have plunged Villa into some real serious trouble, but they have subsequently picked up 7 points from their last 3 games to put some distance between themselves and the Championship. The form at home has been pretty good with only 1 defeat in their last 6 games and they have won 4 of those games including a 1-0 win over Newcastle last time out.
Gary McAllister will be taking charge of the Villa team in the absence of Houllier. There are no new injury worries for this talented squad and Gabriel Agbonlahor will be hoping to have earned a starting spot after scoring the winner at West Ham last week off the bench.
Stoke City
Credit to Tony Pulis for leading Stoke City to their first ever FA Cup Final last week with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Bolton in the 'other' Semi Final. The team is close to securing their Premier League future for another season and could qualify for European football next season.
The Brittania Stadium remains one of the toughest stadiums for visiting teams in the Premier League and it is there that Stoke have effectively sealed their future in the League although they are about 4 points short of guranteeing survival. Stoke are 3-1-12 away from home, scoring 14 goals and conceding 26. They, along with Blackburn and Wolves, have the most away defeats in the Premier League.
Stoke have lost just 1 of their last 5 games in all competitions as they set themselves a date at Wembley on May 14th. They showed a lot of heart and desire in their last Premier League game, a 3-2 defeat at White Hart Lane. While there was a lot to praise in their performance, it does mean they have lost their last 7 Premier League away games in a row. However, the 2 goals scored were the first they had managed on their travels since January 4th, a run of 6 games.
Asmir Begovic will come back into the side in goal after Thomas Sorenson played the FA Cup tie as he has all season. Abdoulaye Faye is back in contention and could return to the centre of the defence, but Danny Higginbotham is ruled out for the rest of the season.
Head to Head
Aston Villa and Stoke have had some battles in the 5 Premier League games they have played since the latter returned to the top flight.
Stoke have 2 wins, Aston Villa 1, and 2 games have ended in draws in that time.
Aston Villa won the game here 1-0 last season, whereas it ended 2-2 the season before.
The teams met earlier this season with Stoke coming from a goal behind to win 2-1 at the Brittania Stadium.
Prediction
This is almost a meaningless game for both sides, but both will also be looking for the win that would effectively seal their Premier League place for next season.
I really fancied Aston Villa to come through after their excellent performance last week, but it is hard to guess how the players are feeling after hearing about their manager and the condition he is in. However, there is plenty of quality in the squad and I can imagine they would want to send Gerard Houllier a 'get well soon' present of 3 points.
Stoke are a very tough side, but really do not get the best out of themselves away from the Brittania Stadium, although they did show at Wembley last week that they can win without home comforts. It will be interesting to see whether the players have grounded themselves after the euphoria of reaching a Wembley final, or whether they are considering the home game with Wolves as their best chance of getting the 3 points to survive.
The 7 straight away defeats for Stoke is a big worry, and I do think Aston Villa will win. I was going to make it a 3 UNIT pick before the news about Mr Houllier and will reduce it to a 2 UNIT pick because of the worry about the players' focus.
However, I do think there is a lot of good quality in the Villa team and will back them to come through a close one.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Aston Villa 2-1 Stoke City
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Aston Villa to WIN @ 1.9 (2 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter- the direct link is below
