English Premier
2011-04-23 - Manchester United vs Everton
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 23 April 2011 - Kickoff 12:45pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester United
Manchester United missed the chance to open up a significant gap in the Premier League title race when dropping 2 points at Newcastle on Tuesday, but again must be thankful to Arsenal for dropping points themselves on Wednesday and now United are just 10 points from winning the title for a record 19th time.
The Red Devils now hold a 6 point advantage to their nearest rivals CHELSEA and it now looks like the May 8th meeting between those two teams could play a big part in the destiny of the title. It is United's imperious form at Old Trafford that has created this gap between themselves and the rest and they will look to add another win to the 15 they have had from 16 League games. United have scored 42 goals and conceded 9 in those games making them the top scorers and conceding the least goals at home this season.
Failure to score a goal in the last 2 games will be a worry for Sir Alex Ferguson after his side missed a number of gilt edged chances in those games. However, he will be glad to return to Old Trafford where United have won their last 13 games in all competitions and have scored in every League game this season.
Dimitar Berbatov missed Tuesday's game through illness but should be back in the squad here. Paul Scholes is still suspended while Rafael may be kept out with the Champions League game at Schalke in mind. Rio Ferdinand is another who could be kept out, but Antonio Valencia will be hoping to start. Darren Fletcher is unlikely to take part as he recovers from an illness.
Everton
After looking like they will be involved in a relegation scrap for a long period of this season, people are once again praising David Moyes and the job he is doing at Everton as he keeps them moving up the table despite the injuries to key figures in his squad.
The Toffees are 7th in the Premier League and still have an outside chance of getting into Europe but first must finish above rivals Liverpool who hold 6th spot. The Blue half of Merseyside are just 2 points behind the Reds, but will need to improve their away record if they are to pick up something here. Everton are 4-7-5 away from home this season, scoring 19 goals and conceding 19.
However, recent form suggests Everton will cause problems if United are not focused on the game and looking ahead to the trip to Germany in midweek. The Toffees are unbeaten in 7 games in the Premier League and they have won 5 of them. Even without the likes of Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini, Tim Cahill and Louis Saha, they have scored in all 7 of those games. Everton have won back to back away games in the League after losing 3 of their previous 4.
The aforementioned Arteta, Fellaini, Cahill and Saha are all out for this game meaning Jermaine Beckford will continue leading the line. John Heitinga is another doubt after coming off in the win over Blackburn last weekend.
Head to Head
United have not lost to Everton at Old Trafford in the League since August 1992 in the 2nd ever game for these sides in the newly formed Premier League.
United have won their last 4 at home in the League against their rivals from down the M62, although they must take note of the back to back draws here before this run.
The teams drew 3-3 at Goodison Park earlier this season when Everton scored TWO goals in injury time to peg United back.
Prediction
This is a nervy time of the season and I think that is why some bookies have priced the United home win up at 1.5, a fair bit bigger than I would have expected. However, as the Newcastle game has shown, backing odds on favourites blindly can sometimes lead to the poor house with even a small bad run.
In saying that, I do expect United to come out and grab the win against a depleted, but gutsy, Everton side. The Red Devils have a strong home record against them in recent seasons and it is hard to see Everton matching United for goals in this game.
I am going back to a favourite of mine in United home games and that is for them to be leading at half time and going on to win the game. 12 of the last 13 victories at Old Trafford in all competitions have seen United go in to the break with the lead and yet the bookies continue to dangle that offer in front of us with the standout price of 2.2 this weekend.
Everton will be a tough cookie to crack, and this could get nervy, but I will back United on that method to come through.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester United 2-1 Everton
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Manchester United HT-FT @ 2.2 (2 UNITS)Follow me on Twitter- the direct link is below
