Manchester City VS West Ham United
29/09/2009, 03:00
29/09/2009, 03:00
Manchester City
Manchester City have had a controversial last couple of games.
First Adebayor-gate in the home win over Arsenal and then Fergie-time and Bellamy-gate in the Manchester derby defeat on Saturday.
City also put out a strong side against a Fulham reserve side in the Carling Cup, leading to a big rush of bettors money for the Citizens. But punters were left with burnt fingers as City inexplicably needed extra time to sneak past the Cottagers.
Will they struggle to see off West Ham in the league in monday nights television game?
Well, taking Fulham out of the equation they are in fine form.
Blowwing away Arsenal and forcing Man United to rely on Ferguson to decide when the final whistle should be blown is no mean feat. Even without Adebayor, City look powerful.
West Ham United
West Ham are never traditionally good travellers anyway, and the Hammers are in bad shape at the moment.
Four points from five games including a particularly disappointing 0-1 defeat at Wigan in their last away game.
Manager Gianfranco Zola and assistant Steve Clarke are undoubtedly doing their best, but away from Upton Park there is little to inspire confidence in the Irons.
Head-to-Head
Man City are 5-1-1 in previous encounters at home.
The Betting Verdict
That Fulham game was a worry, City may be a little jaded after all that has happened in the last twon weeks,
But all you can do is compare squad quality and form, and in both senses Man City look far too powerful for West Ham here.
A simple comparison of class and form shows Man City to be a long way ahead of West Ham here. Lets not complicate things - home win.
Craig Bellamy for anytime scorer against his former club might not be the worst fun bet in the world either.
CAGED Recommends:
Take Manchester City to win
Man City 70% - Draw 20% - West Ham 10%
(Percentage Estimation)
Take Manchester City to win
Man City 70% - Draw 20% - West Ham 10%
(Percentage Estimation)
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Analysis:
The Stadium of Light will host this match between Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers and both teams are coming into this match unable to maintain any level of consistency.
In the opening six matches Sunderland have alternated between losing and wining matches and last weekend were beaten by Burnley 3-1. But in midweek they bounced back and gave a convincing performance against Birmingham. Bruce did after all put out a strong side in the Carling Cup whereby defenders John Mensah and Paulo da Silva played well enough to earned praises from Steve Bruce.
Now Bruce must decide if he wants to keep faith in them or bring back the likes of Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney and Phil Bardsley for today's match. Prior to kickoff Lee Cattermole who did not feature in their last two games will be given a late fitness test to see if he has healed from his heel problem, while goalkeeper Marton Fulop is still struggling with a similar injury.
Fraizer Campbell is likely to go back to the bench as Darren Bent returns upfront after he was rested against Birmingham.
As for the visitors Wolves, they are in mid-table after picking up seven points from six games. Even though they were beaten by Manchester United, they did well in their Premier League game to beat Fulham 2-1.
Mick McCrathy will be boosted by the return of several key players and also he will be glad that Michael Kightly and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake are playing well now. However they are likely to be bench as Black Cats boss McCarthy makes a host of changes for this match.
The visitors will have on-loan Chelsea central defender Michael Mancienne who was ineligible to feature against United back in the side while strikers kevin doyle and Andy Keogh will also make a start here.
In goal Marcus Hahnemann will be relegated to the bench to make way for Wales international Wayne Hennessey. At right back we will see Greg Halford returning to the side to replace Kevin Foley. Dave Edwards will start replacing winger Kightly after being rested in midweek.
Sunderland VS Wolverhampton
27/09/2009, 23:00
27/09/2009, 23:00
Analysis:
The Stadium of Light will host this match between Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers and both teams are coming into this match unable to maintain any level of consistency.
In the opening six matches Sunderland have alternated between losing and wining matches and last weekend were beaten by Burnley 3-1. But in midweek they bounced back and gave a convincing performance against Birmingham. Bruce did after all put out a strong side in the Carling Cup whereby defenders John Mensah and Paulo da Silva played well enough to earned praises from Steve Bruce.
Now Bruce must decide if he wants to keep faith in them or bring back the likes of Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney and Phil Bardsley for today's match. Prior to kickoff Lee Cattermole who did not feature in their last two games will be given a late fitness test to see if he has healed from his heel problem, while goalkeeper Marton Fulop is still struggling with a similar injury.
Fraizer Campbell is likely to go back to the bench as Darren Bent returns upfront after he was rested against Birmingham.
As for the visitors Wolves, they are in mid-table after picking up seven points from six games. Even though they were beaten by Manchester United, they did well in their Premier League game to beat Fulham 2-1.
Mick McCrathy will be boosted by the return of several key players and also he will be glad that Michael Kightly and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake are playing well now. However they are likely to be bench as Black Cats boss McCarthy makes a host of changes for this match.
The visitors will have on-loan Chelsea central defender Michael Mancienne who was ineligible to feature against United back in the side while strikers kevin doyle and Andy Keogh will also make a start here.
In goal Marcus Hahnemann will be relegated to the bench to make way for Wales international Wayne Hennessey. At right back we will see Greg Halford returning to the side to replace Kevin Foley. Dave Edwards will start replacing winger Kightly after being rested in midweek.
Cruiser Recommends:
Take Wolverhampton accept 3/4 ball
Correct Score: Sunderland 1-1 Wolverhampton
Take Wolverhampton accept 3/4 ball
Correct Score: Sunderland 1-1 Wolverhampton
