ENG. CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING PICK - BRIGHTON V BURNLEY

Eng. Championship

2013-02-23 - Brighton vs Burnley

A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter

BRIGHTON v BURNLEY
Football – England – Championship
Saturday 23rd February 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs

BRIGHTON

Brighton will be looking to break back into the top six with all three points with the visit of Burnley to their Amex Stadium when the two teams clash on Saturday afternoon.

Following their smash-and-grab win at Cardiff City in midweek, Brighton now return to home surroundings in search of back-to-back wins that could lift them up into that final sixth spot, as Gus Poyet’s men have lost just once in their last eight matches which was a 1-3 defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday.

Wins over Ipswich Town 3-0 away, Derby County 2-1 and Hull City 1-0 along with taking points off Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers (home and away) and the recent win at Cardiff have maintained The Seagulls’ challenge at the top half of the table and they now have a play-off place firmly in their sights.

Brighton’s home record stands at 6-7-3 22/14 with only league leaders Cardiff City (11 goals) conceding fewer home goals than them in the division. Poyet has built this season upon a solid defence and his unit have responded with six clean sheets so far on home turf, while up front without the services of striker Mackail-Smith on Tuesday night, Brighton still have the likes of Orlandi (4 goals, 6 assists), Buckley (5 goals, 5 assists), Bruno and Bridcutt (5 assists each) in their armoury.

BURNLEY

Visitors Burnley travel south in search of their first win for four matches following defeats against Birmingham City and Bolton while managing just single points against second from bottom club Peterborough United and Middlesbrough recently.

Away from home, Burnley have done okay in recent matches with draws at Birmingham City and Peterborough United along with back-to-back wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall respectively, but all of these teams occupy a lower half position in the Championship and they are no Brighton (pushing for a play-off place in addition).

Burnley’s away record stands at a so-so 5-3-8 24/30 and they too have kept just three clean sheets away from home which could again bring about their downfall at Brighton this afternoon. However, there’s no doubting Burnley’s main threat will be from striker Charlie Austin (20 goals, 2 assists) but if Brighton can keep him quiet along with preventing the supply from Trippier (8 assists) and Stanislas (7 assists), then The Seagulls have a chance here.

THE BETTING VERDICT:

The key to this fixture seems to be which defence is the most effective and I have to side with Brighton here as they’ve been solid all season while Burnley will provide an attacking threat, their defence has often let them down and I feel this will be the case again today; a 2-1 win for Brighton but I recommend taking the handicap.

The Pick :