Eng. Championship
2011-11-01 - Southampton vs Peterborough United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Tuesday 1 November 2011 - Kickoff 7:45pm
Southampton
Southampton kept their impressive run of wins at St Mary's going with another 3 points picked up on Saturday and they continue to set the pace in the Championship. Nigel Adkins really has done a wonderful job in his short time on the South Coast, and they are now seen as genuine challengers for promotion back to the Premier League.
They remained on top of the table courtesy of their 3-0 win here over Middlesbrough on Saturday and remain 3 points clear of West Ham in 2nd place. The better news for Saints fans was they have extended their lead over 3rd place to 6 points, but it is still far too early for fans to think this is going to be a procession to promtion. Southampton have won all 7 League games at home this season, and their 19 goals there means they are the top home scorers in the League.
Southampton have now scored at least 2 goals in 7 of their 9 home games this season in all competitions, while their winning run has been extended to 18 games in all competitions, with the last team winning here being Manchester United in the FA Cup back in January. In only 4 of those games have Southampton scored less than 2 goals.
Nigel Adkins has no new injury worries from Saturdays game with Guly do Prado looking like he will be available to the manager.
Peterborough United
They say you shouldn't go back to a club if you had success there and then decided to move on, but Darren Ferguson has proved that you can do it as his Peterborough United side have won promotion from League One since his return and have made a decent start to life back in the Championship.
Peterborough are 12th in the table and they are just about evenly balance from the top and bottom of the League. Posh have picked up 19 points this season, leaving them 11 points behind Southampton in 1st place, but also just 10 points better off than Bristol City in 24th. They are 2-1-4 away from home, scoring 10 goals and conceding 13, and it is no surprise that they are in the upper sections for goals scored and conceded.
A 3-2 loss at Watford on Saturday means the team have lost back to back League games, both by the same scoreline. They have been inconsistent as shown from the fact they have won 5 and lost 7 of their last 12 games in all competitions. Peterborough's loss at Vicarage Road snapped a 2 game winning run away from London Road.
Craig Alcock could return to the squad after missing the loss on Saturday, but Lee Tomlin will miss out as he continues serving his suspension.
Head to Head
These two were both promoted from League One last season, but it was Southampton who came out on top in their games against one another.
The Saints beat Peterborough 4-1 at home, but were twice pegged back away from home in a classic 4-4 draw at Posh.
Prediction
This has all the makings of another high scoring game between the two teams and it is no surprise to see the 'Over 2.5 Goals' priced up as short as 1.44 by some layers, so I have no interest in that price.
What does interest me is the price of 2.40 for Southampton to be leading by half time and then going on to win the game.
This would have been a winner in 6 of their 7 League games at home this season and already gave us a 3.00 winner on Saturday when they raced into a lead against Middlesbrough.
Nigel Adkins has his team looking to get on the front foot in their home games and their attacking style of play does make it hard for teams to keep up. At home, they are also allowed to have more the ball and that makes it that much easier for them to be able to punish their opponents.
While Southampton like getting off to fast starts, Peterborough have struggled out of the gate in the Championship away games they have played, and they have actually been behind in 5 of their 7 away games after the first 45 minutes. They have conceded 8 of their 13 away goals before the break and were 3-2 down at Watford at this point last time out.
It seems the layers may have left the half time-full time price a little high and they have tempted me in to have another crack at Southampton to be leading on both occasions.
The Pick :
Southampton 4-2 Peterborough United
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Southampton half time-full time @ 2.40
