Saturday 31st January – Match Previews
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The Most Beautiful Game give you all of Saturday 31st January’s Premier League Match Previews below
Make sure you tune in to our Live Premier League where we will give you Live updates, Live streams and Post-match highlights. Visit it here
Match Preview: Aston Villa v Wigan
Date: 31st January
Kick-off: 1500
Venue: Villa Park
By, AT
Villa continued their terrific away form with a win over Portsmouth during the week, with debutant Emile Heskey scoring. Wigan put in a fighting display against Liverpool, earning a draw, with their debutant Mido scoring.
HOME SIDE
Martin Laursen, Nigel Reo-Coker, Marlon Harewood and Ashley Young (suspended) are all out. John Carew returns to the squad after injury.
Battles on the Field
Emile Heskey v Titus Bramble
New Villa striker will hope to continue his great start with another strong performance, and renowned for his mistakes, Bramble will have to keep concentration against the powerful talisman.
Gareth Barry v Lee Cattermole
These two are completely different types of midfielders, Barry has the ability to control the game with precision passing, whereas Cattermole will give 100% to the cause, and will scrap for everything.
AWAY SIDE
Valencia is still sidelined, however Kirkland could return to the squad after his injury. Rodallega could make his first full debut.
Predicted Line Ups
–HOME TEAM – Friedel, Cuellar, Knight, Davies, Luke Young, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Milner, Agbonlahor, Heskey.
AWAY TEAM - Pollitt, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Figueroa, De Ridder, Brown, Cattermole, Taylor, Zaki, Mido
Best Bet – Heskey to score first
The Most Beautiful Game’s Prediction – Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan
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Fulham V Portsmouth ( Saturday 31st January 15.00 K.O)
Pompey travel to Craven Cottage just 3 points off the drop zone and without an away win since November, so Fulham will be confident going into this game as they themselves are unbeaten in their last seven home games.
But if Portsmouth do manage to get 3 points at Craven Cottage, then this will see them leapfrog Fulham in the table into 11th if other results go their way. On the other hand if Fulham manage to win what I see as a tight fought game then they could move into the top half of the table.
Roy Hodgson has no new injury worries and has a full squad to choose from apart from the long term injured Diomansy Kamara, who misses out on facing his old club.
Portsmouth on the other hand will be without Nadir Belhadj, who is suspended following his midweek sending off against Villa and Sol Campbell will be given a late fitness test following a hip injury also picked up against Villa on Tuesday.
Midfielders Niko Kranjcar (groin), Richard Hughes (hamstring) Papa Bouba Diop (knee) and defender Marc Wilson (hip) are all out of this game while new signing Pele is expected to make the bench.
Possible starting Line-ups
Fulham: Schwarzer, Hughes, Hangeland, Pantsil, Konchesky, Murphy, Davies, Etuhu, Dempsey, Zamora, Johnson.
Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Kaboul, Distin, Hreidarsson, Traore, Mullins, Davis, Pennant, Nugent, Crouch.
Prediction
Fulham 1-1 Portsmouth
First Goalscorer: Peter Crouch
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Arsenal FC v West Ham United
Date: Saturday, 31st January 2009
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick Off: 15:00
By, Oli Price
Arsenal face an on form Hammers side, who will feel that they can, take all three points from the inconsistent Gunners.
One time title contenders Arsenal enter this London derby with their sights set on the more realistic task of overhauling a five point gap on fourth placed Aston Villa, to claim a Champions League place.
Wenger may have Mikael Silvestre available following a thigh strain, but three key players are long-term absentees. Captain Cesc Fabregas (medial ligament), Theo Walcott (dislocated shoulder) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) all remain on the sidelines. It may be too early to call upon Eduardo who is building up his fitness after suffering a leg break and dislocated ankle last season.
Battles on the Field
William Gallas v Di Michele- The on form centre forward Striker will be battling it out against Arsenal; and he is up against the strong Frenchman!
Robin Van Persie v Robert Green – Green is no doubt, a quality player, but no keeper can seem to stop Van Persie at the moment, can Robert Green handle the fiery, powerful forward?
West Ham are one of the on form teams in England; and haven’t lost any game since a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park before Christmas; an unbeaten stretch which has extended to seven competitive matches. The 2-0 home victory against Hull this week featured goals from David Di Michele and Carlton Andy Cole. Andy Cole has now scored six times in his last seven appearances.
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themostbeautifulgame.com’s Prediction: Arsenal FC 2-1 West Ham United
Although West Ham are on good form, I think the home advantage in the Derby, will be enough to see of Gianfranco Zola’s strong side.
Best Bet: Robin Van Persie (to score last)
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Match Preview: HULL CITY v WEST BROMICH ALBION
Date: 31st of January 2009
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: KC Stadium
By, Paulie C (Paul Cronin)
This is a game which both teams will feel they cannot afford to lose. The problem though is that both these teams also have the worst defensive records in the league coupled with an inability to score goals of late. Hull especially have been struggling to find the net since Phil Brown’s decision to give his team a very public dressing down against Manchester City.
HOME SIDE
The recent performance of Matt Duke in goal against West Ham is one of the few positives Hull can take going into this game. The Tiger’s shall be looking to both Geovanni and Daniel Cousin for inspiration up front and to Turner at the back for some better organization at set pieces.
Battles on the Field –
BULLARD v MORRISON This contest may be decided by the player who can drive their side on more. Jimmy Bullard is a very energetic midfielder who can lead by example and perhaps raise the performance levels of the rest of the team. Morrison by contrast is a very technical player who will look to pick holes in the Hull defense and encourage West Brom to keep good possession of the football in the absence of Jonathon Greening.
DUKE v CARSON Since a lot of these six pointers can be decided by errors the goalkeepers may be vital to proceedings. Scott Carson is fresh off another impression of David James and will need to keep his mind on the game. By contrast Matt Duke was the only real shining light for Hull against the Hammers and should be high in confidence.
AWAY SIDE
The decision to rescind Paul Robinson’s red card issued in the 5-0 thrashing by Manchester United earlier in the week will come as quite a boost to the Baggies. The result itself though should not diminish the confidence too much as it was a game that the manager would not have expected much from despite the reaction of the fans at the final whistle.
Predicted Line Ups –
HOME TEAM – Duke, Rickets, Turner, Zayetta, Dawson, Marney, Bullard, Kilbane, Geovanni, Cousin, Manoucho
AWAY TEAM – Carson, Hoefkens, Pele, Donk, Robinson, Morrison, Valero, Koren, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune
Best Bet – Cousin
The Most Beautiful Game’s Prediction – Hull 1 – West Brom 1
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Bolton Vs Tottenham
Article By: Matthew Wood
Bolton suffered major heart break at the start of the week after going from 2-0 up to 2-2 against local rivals, Blackburn. Tottenham on the other hand enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 win against Stoke. Both teams have been active in the transfer window this week, so how will this affect their game?
Bolton were cruising to a 2-0 victory at Blackburn at the start of the week and went in at half time in control after goals from joint top scorers; Kevin Davies and Matthew Taylor. However, boss Megson, decided to go more defensive to consolidate the lead, which allowed Blackburn to come at Bolton and attack, which inevitably allowed them to get back on even terms. Megsons’ tactics were put under scrutiny by many Bolton fans which resulted in abuse toward Megson. Bolton also made news by selling captain, Kevin Nolan, to Newcastle this week for £4,000,000. Rumours of possible replacements have been Veloso, S.Davies and James Harper.
Spurs started off a good week by signing veteran goal keeper Cudichini from Chelsea. He immediately received a starting place over Gomes, and looks to keep it after the success at Stoke. At the Stoke game goals came from Lennon, Defoe and Dawson and the day was not over shadowed by Stoke’s one goal. Manager, Harry Redknapp, expressed joy at the victory.
“In all honesty we could have been six-up at half time, we were that dominant…But suddenly from being in complete control we turn the ball over and they hit us on the break. But we kept the ball after that, it was a good all-round performance. “
TEAM NEWS
However, Johan Elmander, Joey O’Brien, Nicky Hunt and Gavin McCann all remain sidelined because of injury. (Bolton)
Defoe Injured (Tottenham)
Both teams need a win to give themselves breathing space from the relegation zone, the loser could find themselves in it after today. Bolton will need a win to stop them going in to free fall mode, while Spurs will need one to keep momentum going, it looks to be a good one.
The Beautiful Game’s Verdict: Bolton 2-1Tottenham (Spurs have been bad on the road, and Bolton can score, it’s just going to be a case if they can maintain the lead)
Best Bet 1st Scorer: Matt Taylor
Stoke vs Man. City
Saturday 31st JANUARY 2009-01-31
Venue: The Britannia Stadium
Kick-Off: 12:45 GMT
Stoke are without a win in nine games coming in to this fixture against a team loaded with money.
The Potters started the season excellently but now find themselves in the relegation zone, with 15th place the best that they could achieve.
While their squad is not as good as Man. City’s, Stoke have secured all of their wins at home, while City have only won once away.
Mark Hughes, who described Stoke as a “real, physical team” expects both SWP and Pablo Zabaleta to return from knocks in time to play. New signings Bridge, Bellamy and De Jong should also feature.
Ricardo Fuller may be making a return for Stoke, while key man Liam Lawrence is back available. Former Newcastle full-back Andy Griffin is expected to take the place of Andy Wilkinson.
Battles on the Field:
Liam Lawrence v Nigel de Jong
De Jong is a typical defensive midfielder whose talents were on display at Euro 2008. He’s strong in the tackle and good at bringing others into play and his job will be to man mark Stoke’s creative midfielder Liam Lawrence out of the game.
Robinho v Sonko
For reasons stated below, Stoke will not be looking forward to the return of the talented Brazilian. Sonko may come back into the side for the flu-ridden Faye, and he will have his work cut out to take care of the Samba dribbler.
City trounced Stoke at the City of Manchester Stadium, by 3 goals to nil. Guess who scored all three goals? Yes, you guessed it, Robinho.
Stoke are on awful form and they need the win more than City, who are at least in the top half of the table. Mark Hughes may be feeling like a sheikh kebab in a high-pressure oven right now, but, believe me, both managers will be feeling it.
The Beautiful Game’s Prediction: Stoke 1-2 City
Best Bet 1st Scorer: Robinho
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