Lay West Brom versus Stoke City 2.28
West Brom’s early season form is slipping. They are without a win in their last 4 Premier League games, including defeats to Blackpool and Wigan Athletic; hardly the who’s-who of the league. Although only Manchester City have won on their travels to the Hawthorns this season, Stoke City have good potential to cause an upset on Saturday. Tony Pulis’ side took 4 points off West Brom when both teams came up from the Championship together, and then 6 points the following season. That including away wins in both seasons. West Brom don’t deal with Stoke’s physical game and don’t defend their set pieces. Stoke City can win this game from set pieces. The Kenwyne Jones threat will be my biggest focus in this game. West Brom’s biggest defender, Jonas Olsson is also out with an injury. Scott Carson doesn’t add confidence to the defence. Defensively, Stoke must be careful of Chris Brunt down the wing, with the Northern Irish player recording 7 assists in his last 8 league games.
Lay Chelsea versus Birmingham City 1.81
The defending champions are going through a tough period. Injuries to John Terry and Alex left them depleted at the back last week in a shock 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Sunderland. Terry in particular was clearly missing as their defence was in a mess; Paulo Ferreira and Branislav Ivanovic pairing together at centre back. Ferreira doesn’t defend well in his natural position, full back but looked hopeless in the middle. Ivanovic is susceptible to being caught out of position. Ivanovic played 90 minutes in Bulgaria midweek, meaning the pair haven’t had long to practice together this week. Alex McLeish has a good opportunity to increase Birmingham’s points this week by attacking this vulnerable Chelsea defence as Sunderland did last week. Interestingly, Birmingham have drawn their last 7 home games versus the traditional big 4. For Chelsea, Drogba hasn’t scored on the road this season, and Malouda has only done so once. In addition to their defensive injuries, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard are also missing.
Manchester United to beat Wigan -1.75 10/11
Despite drawing with Aston Villa last week, Manchester United gained a point in Chelsea following their defeat a day later. With the injury problems Chelsea are having, Manchester United must be optimistic about closing down Chelsea’s 3 point lead over the coming weeks. To do so, victory over Wigan is a minimum requirement. They did so 5-0 in both fixtures last season. While that did require the form of Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia last season, neither of whom will be playing on Saturday, United are still capable of scoring a few. Having been unbeaten in their first 3 road trips, Wigan’s form has dropped of late, losing in their last two away games, at Fulham and Blackburn. Last weekend’s victory at home to West Brom saw them escape the relegation zone, but just 1 point above Birmingham means they could full back in this weekend. A position some would argue merited. Blackpool have crushed them 4-0, Chelsea 6-0 and Manchester City 2-0. Manchester United are capable of matching at least one of those. Dimitar Berbatov hasn’t scored in his last 7 Premier League matches since a hat trick over Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson should seriously consider benching him for the start of this one, and giving Federico Macheda a longer run out. He came off the bench last weekend to score, after United failed to score in the 72 minutes Berbatov was on the field. Nani has had a couple of quiet games recently, but is in a favourable matchup to return to form here.