Wolves vs Stoke City Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2011-12-17 - Wolves vs Stoke City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Wolves v Stoke City
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 17 December 2011 - Kick Off 3pm

Wolves

Mick McCarthy was given a lot of support from his fellow managers when he came out and criticised the home supporters that had been on the back of the players taking the field at Molineux. However, the best way to get the fans back onside with the club will be to find a way to move away from the relegation zone as soon as possible.

Wolves dropped back down to 17th in the Premier League table following Sunderland's win over Blackburn on Sunday afternoon, and they are just 2 points clear of Wigan in the final relegation spot. They have a 3-1-3 record at home this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding 11 and they know it is their record at Molineux that will keep them in the top flight.

The team were beaten 4-1 at Old Trafford last Saturday, meaning they have lost 3 of their last 4 League games, but they will have the confidence of knowing they have won their last 2 games at home. In fact, Wolves are unbeaten in their last 3 games at Molineux in the Premier League, although they haven't kept a clean sheet here since the end of August.

Kevin Foley and Jody Craddock remain sidelined, but David Edwards should recover in time to take the field as should Matt Jarvis. Steven Fletcher will continue up front and hope to continue his fine form in 2011.

Stoke City

Tony Pulis has guided his Stoke City side to the same stage of the Europa League as Manchester United and Manchester City, testament again to the wonderful job he has done at the Brittania Stadium. Stoke are not everyone's cup of tea in the way they approach the beautiful game, but they are very effective at what they do.

Stoke moved into 8th spot in the Premier League last Sunday courtesy of a confidence boosting win over Tottenham Hotspur at home, although they were recipients of some generous refereeing to say the least. The Potters have a 2-1-4 record away from the Brittania Stadium, scoring just 4 goals but conceding 15.

You can see from their record that when Stoke lose away from home, they lose heavy. The team did beat Everton 0-1 at Goodison Park a couple of weeks ago, but they have been beaten 5-0 at Bolton, 4-0 at Sunderland and 2-0 at Swansea as the toll of playing in the League and Europe seemed to affect them. Stoke come in to this one having won their last 3 Premier League games since losing 2-3 at home to QPR.

Tony Pulis rested a lot of his main starters in the 3-1 loss at Besiktas on Wednesday and he has a full squad to choose from in this game. I would be surprised if he makes too many changes from the side that beat Tottenham last week.

Head to Head

Wolves beat Stoke City 2-1 at home in the League last season, but they did lose 0-1 here in the FA Cup later in the season.

The Wolves win last season was the only won in the last 4 games between the sides at Molineux.

Prediction

This could be quite a tough game for viewing purposes as both sides very much rely on their ability to work hard to earn points against other sides. Up against one another, there is a chance that they could cancel each other out.

Wolves have been playing better at home recently, although they could be considered fortunate in beating Sunderland here last time out when they equalised just a minute after their goalkeeper saved a penalty and prevented the side falling 2 goals behind.

Stoke have managed to rest the majority of the side that will be starting here on Saturday and I think that can only be a positive as they have had a hard time recovering from a European game in midweek and returning back to League action at the weekend.

I did consider 'Both Teams NOT to score', but neither defence has been overly reliable and instead I am going to play the 'Under 2.5 Goals'.8 of the last 10 games between the teams at Molineux have ended with 2 or less goals scored and this could be another tight encounter.

The Statistics :

WOLVES LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-04	W	2-1	H v Sunderland
	2011-11-06	W	3-1	H v Wigan
	2011-10-22	D	2-2	H v Swansea
	2011-10-01	L	1-2	H v Newcastle
	2011-09-17	L	0-3	H v QPR
	2011-09-10	L	0-2	H v Tottenham

STOKE_CITY LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-04	W	0-1	A v Everton
	2011-11-06	L	5-0	A v Bolton
	2011-10-23	L	3-1	A v Arsenal
	2011-10-02	L	2-0	A v Swansea
	2011-09-18	L	4-0	A v Sunderland
	2011-08-28	W	0-1	A v WBA