A very good week for the blog, in which Jo scored for us at 2/1, Inter trashed Bari at 4/7, Birmingham beat MK Dons at4/9 and Ipswich gave us the biggest win of all at Millwall, coming in at a tasty 2/1. Athletico let us down and Man City were woeful in defeat, but you can’t win them all.
It’s been a great week in the Carling Cup, which has defied its “mickey mouse competition” nickname with some cracking games, including shock defeats for a number of Premier League teams.
I can’t think that fans of either Manchester City or CHELSEA would be too disappointed with defeats for their third teams in preparation for this game, but there’s no questioning that this League encounter will be a lot more toughly contested.
Chelsea come here having waltzed their way through an opening set of fixtures which proved as straightforward as they appeared on paper, having plundered an average of 4.2 goals per game and conceding just once in a perfect start.
Things will be tougher here, but they beat their nearest five competitors in the table both home and away last season and there’s no reason to think they can’t do it again with them on such a good roll coming into the season.
Man City will be very tough opponents make no mistake, but there is an argument for saying that Mancini’s side are still to gel and compliment each other properly, and while some of their displays have been very good (notably a 3-0 win over Liverpool) some have been very worrying, paticiuarly an inability to beat Blackburn at home, a sign which suggests they may not be able to create enough against Chelsea, a statement backed up by the fact they have failed to score in 5 of their last 10 league games.
FLORENT MALOUDA has scored 6 league goals this season, and may just be in the right position to net again should he start (most likely) on Saturday. In any case, 2/1 could be too good to miss.
And on the goals point too, with Man City's defensive squad problems and Chelsea' attacking prowess, OVER 2.5 GOALS might be the way to go, particularly when going through the archive, as you'll find the last five games involving Roberto Mancini and Carlo Ancelotti have all gone over 2.5 goals. In all cases both teams got on the scoreline.
Over at St Andrews, the comfort of playing at home should see BIRMINGHAM start as favourites against a rather wayward Wigan side. They have not lost at St Andrews in all competitions and produced a dominant display in midweek to dispose of League One side MK Dons.
What was more pleasing for manager Alex McLeish was the performance of summer signings Alexander Hleb and Nikola Zigic, who both scored their first goals for the club, and Jean Beausejour, who made his home debut and created two of the three goals.
Wigan may spring a shock, as their in their last away outing against Tottenham Hotspur they managed to record a 1-0 victory and if in the same mood could take some stopping, That said, their defending was shocking against Man City and if Birmingham's side gel as well as they did in midweek, they will need to be watertight.
Neither Fulham boss Mark Hughes or his Everton counterpart David Moyes are happy men (Hughes is still fuming about the challenge by Stoke's Andy Wilkinson on Moussa Dembele in Tuesday's League Cup tie, while Moyes is wracking his brains to work out why his Toffees side have had such a slow start this season) but I reckon that a win for FULHAM might lift his spirits more.
The visit of struggling Everton is the perfect chance to kick start the season, with Fulham having a very strong home record and being unbeaten this season. While Fulham's squad is beginning to get down to the bare bones (Zoltan Gera may have to be deployed as an emergency striker) Everton's top scorer Tim Cahill is rated 50/50 to play after recent knee trouble and Leon Osman is also a doubt, 2 crucial blows. In any case, they seem to be struggling for form anyway.
And last but not least,a struggling albeit reviving West Ham might not be able to cope with TOTTENHAM, who come here with a much stronger team then when having lost to Arsenal in extra time of the League Cup, with midfielder Luka Modric having overcome a foot injury, while Rafael van der Vaart and Vedran Corluka are also fit to play.
West Ham are showing signs of revival but Tottenham showed the grit that a top 4 side shows when they need to and they should be able to see things out at Upton Park.
Over in Italy, treble winners INTER MILAN have made a stuttering start to the season but are getting better with every game, The Nezzazuri trashing Bari 4-0 in the San Siro in midweek to take a 1 point lead at the top of the table having played 4 games, Diego Milito and Samuel Eto'o scoring a brace each in what was a superb performance.
Roma have been struggling both in the league and in the Champions League since the start of the season, and things went from bad to worse in midweek when they were defeated by newly promoted Brescia. Referring decisions cost them that game though, and it's going to be a lot harder for Inter to get 3 points here, but they have the quality to do so and must be growing in confidence, with SAMUEL ETO'O publicly declaring his intent to play. He's been in great form this season, and may be there to notch again should Inter need him.
In Spain, Sporting Gijon threw away a 2 goals lead last time they were at home against Bilbao, and against VALENCIA the outcome might be the same, especially seeing as they have won four of their first 5 games and have made a superb start to the season all round. Los Che were relatively unimpressive away from home last season, considering their form at the Mestalla, drawing 1-1 in Gijon, but are coming on a real form run and must be taking maximum points here if they are to be challenging Real and Barca anywhere this season.
Recommendations
Chelsea to beat Man City (5/6 Totesport, Betfred, Stan James, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, Coral)
Florent Malouda to score anytime (11/4 extrabet, 2/1 elsewhere)
Over 2.5 goals (evs Bet365)
Birmingham to beat Wigan (5/6 Bet365, Totesport, Betfred, Stan James, Paddy Power, William Hill, Coral)
Fulham to beat Everton (7/4 Bet365, Victor Chandler, Blue Sq, 888 Sport)
Tottenham to beat West Ham (11/10 general)
Inter to beat Roma (13/10 Betfred)
Eto'o to score anytime (8/5 Bet365)
Valencia to beat Sporting Gijon (13/10 Blue Sq, 888 Sport)
Good luck to all.
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