English Premier
2009-05-11 - Newcastle United vs Middlesbrough
A Sports Betting Pick by chappers
- English Premier League -
St James Park
11th May 2009 8pm
Newcastle United (18th EPL)
Played 35 with 31 points
Some people might be a little shocked by the season that Newcastle have had this time out but for me this has been a few years in the making and even if Newcastle do avoid the drop this time out, then I think next season will be just as hard. The circus that is St James park has now seen four managers this season and the latest to try his hand at the hot seat is yet to win a game and time is running out fast if Alan Shearer is to save his local club from the drop.
In years gone by Newcastle would have been looking at home games as wins, wins and then some more wins but not this time out. They have only won 4 home games all season and the last of those came back in December when they beat Tottenham 2-1. Since then they have gone 8 home games without a win. Last time out they drew 0-0 with Portsmouth and they had some very decent chances but for me Portsmouth played within themselves and knew that a draw would have been enough for them. Previous to that both Chelsea and Arsenal have came to the north east and won with ease.
It was eleven long games ago since Newcastle have picked up three points from anywhere and that was when they won 3-2 at West Brom, since then they have lost 6 and drawn 5 games. Picking up points at Stoke and Hull and of course the recent draw v Portsmouth.
With only two more games after this one, Newcastle are fast running out of games if they want to avoid the drop to the Championship and for me this is a game they can not afford to lose if they want to achieve this.
Middlesbrough (19th EPL)
Played 35 with 31 points
It has been a long hard season for Boro and despite some decent performances at time they find themselves in the bottom three with only three games to play and the last thing they would have wanted was a trip up the road to play Newcastle and even more so when you take a look at the awful away record that Boro have this season which stands at 2-2-13.
Boro's last away win came back in November when they went to Villa Park and won 2-1 and this was not long after the other away win at Wigan. What has to be more worrying is that after they beat Villa they drew at Everton 1-1 but have no picked up a single point since then and have now lost 10 away games on the bounce and if that is not relegation form then I dont know what is. Last time out away from the Riverside they lost 2-0 at Arsenal and before that were hammered 4-1 at Bolton.
Overall this season Boro have a record of 7-10-18 and with Villa and West Ham still to play they will have to increase the left hand column if they want to stay up this season starting with this game v local rivals Newcastle.
Head 2 Head
This game as been drawn the last four times and Newcastle have won the other two with the last win coming in 2004, so much at all between the two teams when they play at St James. In fact you have to back to 2001 for the last time Boro won at Newcastle and that was a 2-1 victory.
Verdict
The general thought is that the loser of this game will go down and the winner may just go on to fight another day. So the fun part is going to try and sort these two teams out and to be honest i'm not sure I can do that. Both are poor teams who are fighting for their lives and Newcastle have not won at home since December and Boro have not won away since November then the obvious bet will of course be the draw.
Now being a Sunderland fan that has to the be the way forward as a draw would almost certainly keep Sunderland up for another season at least but, as I've said many a time when trying to bet I keep my feeling about Sunderland out of this.
When looking at this game I just cannot see Boro winning and as such it will mean almost certain relegation for them, so the question is will that be a big motivation factor for them as they have Villa at home and West Ham away to come. Then you take Newcastle who after this have in form Fulham to play at St James and then out of sorts Villa at Villa Park.
So for me this is a must win game for both teams and to be honest, I think that I may just get the result i'm after and the draw is what I think will happen and to be honest I would not be surprised if it is 0-0. (The only thing putting me off is that it would be the 5th draw on the bounce at St James between the two)
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Match to end in a draw
