English Premier
2010-05-09 - Bolton Wanderers vs Birmingham City
A Sports Betting Pick by Armchair
Football : England : Premier League
Sunday 9th May 2010 – Kickoff 4pm
It’s the final round of games in the Premiership this Sunday and I can’t believe how quickly this season has flown by.
It’s the closest finish for top position for a few years, however, the relegation places have already been decided with Hull City, Burnley and Portsmouth bidding farewell to the best league in the world.
They will be replaced by Newcastle United and West Brom who have immediately bounced back into the big-time. They will be joined by one other...
Anyway, it’s time for my next tip and the scene is the Reebok Stadium where Bolton Wanderers take on Birmingham City. Both teams can relax for a change in the final fixture, a luxury Birmingham City haven’t enjoyed for quite a few seasons I can tell you! That said, the Blues will be keen to hang onto 9th place as this would represent their best ever finish in the top flight.
Bolton at home have been indifferent; a record of 5-6-7 24/30 tells it’s own story of inconsistency at the Reebok and on the back of a poor away record (4-3-12 16/36), they duly find themselves in the lower half of the table. The key to their inconsistency is the lack of goals. Leading scorer is left wing-back Matthew Taylor (8 goals, 1 assist), and while striker Kevin Davies (6 goals, 7 assists) has chipped in again, it’s not the sort of return manager Owen Coyle would expect.
Onto Birmingham then, and the visitors have had a fantastic season by their standards (and I know I’m not offending any Blues fans because I’m one myself!), the backbone of their success has most definitely been their resolute defence who have conceded only 13 goals at home – only Manchester United & Tottenham (both conceding 12) can boast a meaner defence.
The partnership of Scott Dann & Roger Johnson has been a revelation, although Dann is unlikely to play in this match. However, Liam Ridgewell has slotted into central defence again comfortably.
Blues away record reads 5-2-11 18/32 and they too have struggled to find the net on a regular basis. Every match has been a tight affair, and this is evidenced by the fact that Birmingham have not won a match by more than one goal.
On-loan keeper Joe Hart has undoubtedly been Birmingham’s Player of The Season and his reputation now is such that he fully deserves to be England’s keeper for the forthcoming World Cup – must have been all the practice he got with the Birmingham back four in front of him!
Anyhow, back to recent form; Bolton are winless in their last 3 home games, scoring 2 and conceding 7 (0-4 v Manchester United, 0-1 v Aston Villa and 2-2 with Portsmouth), whilst Blues have lost their last four on the trot (1-3 at Sunderland, 1-2 at Blackburn, 1-5 at Manchester City and 0-1 against bitter rivals Villa).
The Betting Verdict :
With goals at a premium for both sides, I think it will be a tight contest where I think the Birmingham defence will come out on top against a lacklustre Bolton attack.
The Statistics :
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Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Birmingham City AH +0 at 2.36 with bet365
