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2011-08-25 - Scunthorpe vs Newcastle United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Carling Cup
Thursday 25 August 2011 - Kickoff 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe were relegated from the Championship last season following the departure of influential manager Nigel Adkins who took over at Southampton, and they have not exactly started in a very good way in League One this season.
The sit 19th in League One and are yet to win a game in the League this season. They have picked up 3 points from their opening 4 games although their one loss has come at Glanford Park where they are 0-1-1, scoring 2 goals and conceding 3.
Scunthorpe's only win this season came in the 1st Round of the Carling Cup when they beat League Two Accrington Stanley away from home 0-2. Their games can be entertaining and they have scored and conceded in every League game this season. They have also got a bit of history of providing scares for Premier League sides as they actually held a 1-0 lead over Manchester United in this competition last season before losing 2-5.
Oliver Norwood is in the squad following his move on loan from Manchester United. Paul Reid is out and will be replaced by Niall Canavan.
Newcastle United
Newcastle United have made a decent start to the new season considering all their disruption over the Summer, and the confidence of the side should have been boosted after securing a win at the home of local rivals Sunderland last Saturday.
The Magpies have picked up 4 points from their opening 2 games of the season in what looked like a tough start on paper as they faced Arsenal at home and Sunderland away. The fact that both of those games came with a clean sheet will have pleased Alan Pardew.
The two results this season means Newcastle have only lost 1 of their last 8 competitive games going back to last season. The team reached the 4th Round of this competition last season after winning away games at Accrington Stanley and Chelsea before being beaten by Arsenal. Newcastle have won 3 of their last 4 away games in the Carling Cup, although 1 of those came in extra time.
Joey Barton is not in the squad as he moves closer to finalising his transfer to QPR. Sylvain Marveaux is in line to make his competitive debut for the club, while young players like Haris Vuckic and Sammy Ameobi may be given an opportunity.
Head to Head
Newcastle and Scunthorpe met in the 2009/10 season in the Championship, with both winning their home games.
The game here at Glanford Park ended 2-1 to Scunthorpe.
Prediction
I was kind of interested in the Newcastle price earlier on in the week when it was closer to 1.80, but I think it has shortened enough now to think there is no real value backing them.
I think Newcastle will still win, but I also fancied there will be goals in this game as Scunthorpe have showed they are capable of scoring this season.
With Newcastle likely making some changes to their team, they may not have the defensive fluidity to keep Scunthorpe out and gain their 3rd consecutive clean sheet, but I do think they will have enough going forward to out-score their lower League opponents.
The Over 2.5 Goals has been priced higher than the away win and I think that will be my play here.
The Pick :
Scunthorpe 1-2 Newcastle United
