Eng. Championship
2011-08-27 - Leicester City vs Southampton
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Saturday 27 August 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Leicester City
The Championship favourites, along with West Ham United, have struggled at home in the early part of the season, perhaps with the weight of expectation they are facing. Sven Goran-Eriksson is still in the market to buy anyone he feels will strengthen the club as the transfer window gets set to close, but the former England manager has also made it clear that he is happy with the squad he has at his disposal.
Leicester have picked up just 4 points in their opening 4 games of the League season, and all of those have come away from home. They are 0-0-2 at the newly named King Power Stadium, scoring just 1 goal and conceding 4. However, the team have progressed through to the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup so are clearly going to get better.
The Foxes have been beaten by both Reading and Bristol City at home this season, but were unfortunate to drop 2 points at Nottingham Forest last weekend when they blew a 2 goal lead in the last minute of the game. Leicester only lost 4 times at home in the whole of last season, although they are only 3-2-4 in their last 9 games here stretching back to last season.
Kasper Schmeichel returns to the side after being suspended for the midweek win at Bury. David Nugent and Darius Vassell also missed that win thanks to injuries picked up at the City Ground last week, but they too are expected back in the squad.
Southampton
I actually took Southampton as one of my ante-post picks to make it back to the Premier League this season and I have not been disappointed with their start to the season as one of only two sides to have a 100% record in the Championship.
The Saints are top of the Championship having secured 4 wins from 4 games and currently lead the way from Derby County thanks to a superior goal difference. They have won their 2 away games, scoring 6 goals and conceding 2, making them the top away scorers so far in the League.
Southampton's 2 away wins have come in contrasting fashion; first they had the 0-1 win at Barnsley, but followed that up with an impressive display of attacking football as they beat Ipswich 2-5 at Portman Road. The team have won all 5 games they have played this season, including 1 in the Carling Cup.
Richard Chaplow will complete his 3 game suspension here as Southampton's 2nd Round Carling Cup game has to be played at a later date due to the riots in London. Radhi Jaidi and Lee Bernard are on the road to recovery having not played so far this season, but both are expected back after the international break.
Head to Head
Southampton have won their last 4 games against Leicester City, with 3 of those taking place in the League.
Leicester have won just 1 of their last 5 home games against the Saints and were beaten here 1-2 the last time they played in season 2007/08.
Prediction
I think this will be one of the better games in the Championship this weekend between two teams that will be hopeful of ending this season's journey with a return ticket to the top flight.
Leicester have spent plenty of money on the squad with the new investors on board, but they have struggled under the weight of expectation at their home matches and lost to 2 sides they should be beating if they want to gain promotion.
Goals have not been a problem for the side away from home, and they should get chances against an attacking Southampton team that has plenty of threats of their own.
Nigel Adkins is looking to emulate Norwich City by securing back to back promotions and they were very good to watch in their opening day win over Leeds. The performance at Portman Road sounded very good itself, although there were a few concerns with their defending.
All of the above lends me to believe that it could be a game with a few goals on Saturday. Picking winners in the Championship can be hard, especially in games like this, but I think the game has all the ingredients for goals and I will back the Over 2.5 Goals market at what looks like a decent 1.92 mark.
The Pick :
Leicester City 2-2 Southampton
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.92
