ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - STOKE CITY V ARSENAL

English Premier

2011-05-08 - Stoke City vs Arsenal

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

STOKE CITY v ARSENAL
Football : England : Premier League
Sunday, May 8th, 2011 - Kickoff 2:00PM GMT

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STOKE CITY

Stoke City ran Tottenham very close but fell 2-3 at White Hart Lane a month ago. Since that loss, Stoke have gone on an unbeaten run of 4 games in the Premier League, gaining draws with Aston Villa and Blackpool along with some impressive wins over Wolves and Bolton. That win against Bolton was in the FA Cup semi-finals, and the 5-0 thrashing means they will contest the finals against Manchester City. I feel that might affect this game.

Stoke and Arsenal don't really like each other. One could argue Stoke will play them hard and throw everything at them, but that is not how football works. Tony Pulis has absolutely nothing to gain, or lose, in the League but they still have a big match coming up at Wembley. Win or lose here, he will want his team fit and injury free for the FA Cup finals. The players will also be keen to avoid injury as all of them will want to play a part in the clubs big day.

I expect two things on Sunday. For Tony Pulis to make changes to his side and hence field a team that is far from his strongest, and for the players that do play to not play this like a cup final, because they have a real cup final waiting for them. Effort will not be 100% and against Arsenal that spells trouble.

ARSENAL

Arsenal dominated Manchester United last weekend and beat the league leaders 1-0. It was encouraging to see Arsenal had not given up and were still fighting just as Wenger said they would. The win means Manchester United need to beat Chelsea at home otherwise the race is once again open, and while this is no longer in Arsenal's hands, they know they need to win every remaining game in order to take advantage of any slip ups that might miraculously occur.

Ramsey scored in his first start in well over a year, and the Welsh captain is set to retain his place in midfield in the absence of Cesc Fabregas, who I hear is off getting a Barcelona tattoo on his left buttock. The rest of the team is unchanged, with Robin Van Persie set to lead the attack, and all the others set to play. Points may have been lost against Liverpool and Tottenham but the Liverpool draw came after a bizarre foul, while the Tottenham game did see Arsenal score 3 goals away from home.

Arsenal are set to field the strongest side and with nothing else to play for other than the highest position they can now achieve in the league, there is no doubt the Gunners will go all out for the win. The opposition will be distracted and that is enough for me to take the generous away prices on Arsenal.

BETTING VERDICT

I'm going to bet on Arsenal to win this as they will be in the right frame of mind while Stoke will be thinking only of Manchester City.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Arsenal to win @ 1.75 (Pinnacle)