Stoke City v Newcastle: Magpies to cling to unbeaten record
Posted 31st October 2011
Newcastle's unbeaten record in the Premier League this season is going to come under severe pressure this Monday night as they travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Stoke City. The Magpies have put an amazing run together for the first quarter of the season and they are currently perched up in the lofty heights of fourth place while the Potters are up in the top-half of the table themselves in ninth.
Stoke are favourites for this game at 11/10 with Unibet while a Newcastle win is 12/5 and a draw offered at 23/10.
Both sides were knocked out of the Carling Cup in midweek, with Stoke losing out 2-1 to Liverpool and Newcastle being edged out 4-3 by Blackburn after extra-time. Both sides have had a good rest since then so those matches shouldn't have too much of an effect on Monday's game.
As they try to juggle domestic fixtures and Europa League, Stoke's Premier League form hasn't been great recently. They have taken just four points form their last five games, with a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal their last match.
Their home form, however, is good this season and they have taken eights and have yet to be beaten after playing Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool at the Britannia. Tony Pulis' side are very hard to play against at home because they are physical for the whole 90 minutes and can frustrate teams easily. They are also capable of getting a couple of goals with their direct tactics and it can be hard for teams to defend against this.
Nobody would have believed you if at the start of the season if you said that by game 10 of the campaign there would be two unbeaten teams left, one Manchester City and the other Newcastle United. The Magpies are still hanging in there and deserve some credit for what they have achieved so far. They haven't had the toughest set of fixtures but they have gotten the results which is all the matters.
They will drop off as the season wears on but Alan Pardew has got his side playing some good stuff which wins them games and makes them hard to beat. Newcastle have conceded the least amount of goals in the Premier League so far which is a solid achievement.
This is certainly a tough one to call and should be a cracking match-up on Monday night. Stoke have yet to lose at home while Newcastle have yet to lose on the road. The Potters would love to be the first to get one over on Newcastle but the Magpies are playing with real determination at the moment and they can hang on for a draw.
Tip #1: Back a draw 23/10 with Unibet.
Tip #2: Back Under 2.5 goals at 8/13 with Unibet.
|