Europa League
2011-09-29 - Stoke City vs Besiktas
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Europa League Match Day 2
Thursday 29 September 2011 - Kickoff 8:05pm
Stoke City
Stoke City have come a long way in a short amount of time under Tony Pulis and they are one of the few clubs that have made it clear that they are taking this tournament seriously.
The Potters are as high as 7th in the Premier League at this early stage of the season having picked up 9 points from the first 18 available. They have a 1-2-0 record at the Brittania Stadium, scoring 2 goals and conceding 1, but that is still impressive considering they have played Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Stoke have won both home games played in the Europa League this season.
Stoke have only lost 1 of their 12 competitive games this season and come into this game off the positive performance in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the weekend. They have only lost 1 of their last 18 home games in 2011 and they have won 11 of those games.
Tony Pulis is bound to make a few changes to his side to keep them fresh for the Premier League. Marc Wilson and Matthew Etherington are both doubtful, while Andy Wilkinson is ruled out. Thomas Sorenson will play in goal, but Jonathan Woodgate is not in the Europa League squad.
Besiktas
The Turkish League is having a tough time at the moment with all the match-fixing allegations surrounding Fenerbache, but Besiktas will be hoping they can forget about all the troubles at home by putting one foot into the next stage of the Europa League if they can secure the win here.
Besiktas have only played 4 games in their domestic League, securing 3 wins and losing 1 as they sit in 3rd place, only 1 points behind early pacesetters Istanbul. They are 1-0-1 away from home, scoring 3 goals and conceding 3, while they have lost their only away game in the Europa League at Aliyana.
They have won 4 games in a row in all competitions including a 5-1 win over Maccabi Haifa on Match Day 1 of this competition to put them in 1st place. Besiktas had been unbeaten in 6 straight away games in Europe, but they have lost their last 2 now.
Prediction
This will not be an easy game for Stoke, although their home crowd does give them an edge against almost any team that comes to play them at the Brittania Stadium.
Besiktas will be no pushovers as they showed when beating Manchester United 0-1 at Old Trafford in the 2009 Champions League, and they will be facing a Stoke side that is forced into a few changes.
I would like Stoke to have been priced a little higher, but I think the 1.92 at Ladbrokes for the home win looks tempting considering their record in front of their own fans in this calender year.
This should be tight, but one goal may be enough for the home side and I will take them to do so.
The Pick :
Stoke City 1-0 Besiktas
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Stoke City @ 1.92
