English League One
2010-12-11 - Bournemouth vs Hartlepool United
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
England : Football : nPower League One
Saturday 11th December 2010 – Kickoff 3pm
Third-placed Bournemouth entertain north-east outfit Hartlepool United on Saturday at Dean Court, with The Cherries looking for a third win on the trot and leapfrog Charlton Athletic into second place, albeit on a temporary basis.
Bournemouth (3rd)
Bournemouth have enjoyed their League One campaign so far, and have put in some terrific performances in front of their home fans, losing just one match so far – a 1-2 loss to Colchester United at the end of October.
Overall though, Bournemouth's home record is very good 7-1-1 25/8, and they are the league’s highest goalscorers at home, with high-scoring Peterborough United not far behind (24 goals at London Road).
Their goalscoring prowess has been thanks to their midfield consisting of Josh McQuoid (9 goals) and Marc Pugh (8 goals, 7 assists), but they are also backed up with eight different players that have also scored. Rhoys Wiggins and Liam Feeney (both with 3 assists) have provided the bulk of their creativity, along with Pugh of course.
Another telling statistic for The Cherries is that they are averaging almost 3 goals per game at home, and have scored in each of their nine home games so far, whilst keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Hartlepool United (15th)
Today's visitors are Hartlepool United, who just cannot string a winning run together and their inconsistent form both home and away must be frustrating to players, management and fans alike.
The Hartlepool away form reads 3-3-3 7/6, and they have found scoring goals on the road a bit of a problem.
Pool have failed to score an away goal on four occasions, while their three away wins (appearing good on paper), have been at Yeovil Town (23rd), Plymouth Argyle (17th) & most recently, Tranmere Rovers (19th). A trip to third-placed Bournemouth may well prove to be a more difficult task.
Pool's lack of goals is shown by their leading scorer Antony Sweeney (topping the list with only 4 goals), while Evan Horwood (1 goal, 4 assists) is their leading provider.
The Betting Verdict :
I'm expecting a closely fought match with maybe one or two goals at the most.
I believe Bournemouth’s strength is in their defence, and given Hartlepool’s attacking deficiencies, I’ll take the odds on Bournemouth any day of the week.
BEST BETTING TIP :
Main Pick: Take Bournemouth to win at 1.83Side Bet: Consider Marc Pugh to score anytime at 2.75 with bet365
