Eng. Championship
2012-08-25 - Blackpool vs Ipswich Town
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship
Saturday 25th August 2012 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
I focus again on Blackpool as they entertain visitors Ipswich Town at Bloomfield Road on Saturday afternoon as The Seasiders look to make it three wins on the trot and open up an early lead at the top of the Championship.
Blackpool
Blackpool suffered an early scare against Leeds in midweek as they trailed 0-1 to a Tom Lees goal at half-time. But the never-say-die attitude of manager Ian Holloway is also ingrained into his squad and they ran out eventual winners 2-1 thanks to goals from Dicko and Matty Phillips.
It’s early days obviously, but I’m confident that Blackpool will be one of the hardest teams to beat on their home ground this season as they’re only too happy to fight fire with fire.
This is evident in Blackpool’s final home record which finished a strong 13-7-3 42/21, finishing second only to Southampton (49) in terms of goals scored at home.
The wide pair of Matt Phillips and Tom Ince will test the flanks of any Championship side, along with Taylor-Fletcher, Dicko and the wily Kevin Phillips up front, they also possess a pretty solid and settled defensive unit too with Matthew Gilks one of the most reliable keepers in the division.
Ipswich Town
It’s been a relatively quiet summer for Ipswich Town in terms of transfer dealings, with Grant Leadbitter and keeper Richard Wright departing and replacement keeper Scott Loach (in from Watford), defender Luke Chambers (from Forest) and on-loan midfielder Massimo Luongo from Tottenham, the new faces.
Despite possessing the likes of Jason Scotland and Nathan Ellington in their armoury, The Tractor Boys will probably be relying on proven goalscorer Michael Chopra to help them out up front and he still remains as dangerous as ever and is deadly in the box.
Creative midfielders Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Lee Martin and Carlos Edwards will no doubt provide opportunities, but I wonder if Ipswich will miss the steadying influence and experience of Leadbitter and Keith Andrews (now Bolton) when they need to protect a lead?
The Betting Verdict :
I think this fixture will be determined by firepower and desire, and Blackpool have this in spades.
I strongly suspect that Blackpool will outgun an Ipswich Town side who are not know for their prowess away from home (last season’s record was 6-7-10 30/45) and their inability to keep clean sheets on the road, so I’ll back Blackpool to grab back-to-back home wins here with another 2-1 scoreline.
You may also be interested in Over 2.5 goals @ 1.70 Pinnacle but that is not my main pick.
The Pick :
Blackpool 2-1 Ipswich Town
BEST BETTING TIP :
Pick :Take Blackpool to win @ 2.06 at Pinnacle
