ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - STOKE CITY V CHELSEA

English Premier

2011-08-14 - Stoke City vs Chelsea

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Match Preview :

Stoke under the guidance of Tony Pulis will be hoping to give new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas a taste of Premiership action as they welcome the visit of the Blues to the Britannia stadium.

Stoke, on their day are capable of pulling off an upset and on their day are capable of pulling off an upset.

Pulis has been active in the transfer market when he brought in experienced defenders Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson into the side. After finishing 13th in the table, now they will look to build on that.

But having missed out on the likes of Carlton Cole, Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome, Pulis is still looking to bring in a few players before the deadline closes.

Pulis will not have the likes of Ricardo Fuller (Achilles) and Danny Higginbotham (knee) as they are both out injured and are not expected back until the end of September.

For Chelsea, Villas-Boas, who is the youngest Premiership manager at 33, will aim to get off to a good start as nothing other then a Premier League title or UEFA Champions League title can guarantee his job for another season.

He did not made his presence felt by going on a huge spending spree, but instead deciding to rely on the aging players in the side. The only notable signing is Barcelona rookie Oriol Romeu who has been signed as cover for Michael Essien, as he has again injured cruciate knee ligaments and will be out for several weeks.

And with a £20million deal for Anderlecht's Romelu Lukaku is still being finalised, he will be banking on experience and an aging squad to get through this season. As for the team news, striker Fernando Torres is rated doubtful for the game after he sustained concussion while on international duty with Spain.

Nevertheless, Frank Lampard is expected to be available despite withdrawing from the England squad with a throat infection which eventually saw the clash with Holland postponed due to the London riots.

Possible starting lineups :

Stoke : Begovic, Shotton, Huth, Shawcross, Whelan, Pennant, Delap, Whitehead, Etherington, Jones, Walters.

Chelsea : Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cole, Malouda, Ramires, Romeu, Sturridge, Anelka, Drogba.

Last 6 matches (last season) :

Stoke:: LLLWDW
Chelsea: LDLWWW

Predictions :

Take a small bet on a draw here.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Consider the draw.