Blackpool Vs Fulham
Top of the table and unbeaten Fulham make the long journey to the North West of England to face a Blackpool side hovering inside the relegation zone on 2 points. Fresh off of winning the Championship manager of the month, Marco Silva will be hoping his Cottagers continue their fine start to the season and make it 5 wins from 6.
Since the opening day draw with Middlesbrough, Fulham have dispatched Huddersfield 5-1 and Millwall 2-1 in their away fixtures. In front of their home fans, a 2-0 win against Hull was followed up by another clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Stoke. Silva’s side have caught the eye for their distinct passing style of play, averaging 59.8% possession a game. With exciting talents Harry Wilson, Bobby Decordova-Reid and this seasons breakthrough star Fabio Carvalho in a 3 behind talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham have plenty of attacking prowess. Joshua Onomah and Jean Michael Seri provide a very technical midfield with even more passing ability.
Blackpool on the other hand are yet to win a game this season, with an opening day draw at Bristol City being followed up by back to back 0-2 and 0-1 home defeats to Cardiff and Coventry. An impressive 2-2 draw at Bournemouth gave signs of optimism, before a 90th minute Milwall winner crushed the Seasiders hearts. Blackpool are managed by the impressive Neil Critchley who showed his tactical nous and flexibility in last seasons promotion campaign. In terms of possession, Blackpool tend to let their opponents have the ball, averaging 46% possession so far this season. Critchley has favoured a 4-4-2, looking to frustrate their opponents and attack with pace on the counter.
The Bets:
Going off the bookies prices, Fulham (1.57 Best Price) are clear favourites in their trip to Blackpool (6.25). I am keen to back Fulham, but the odds given aren’t appealing as a single. However, with the addition of corners, Fulham look a very backable price.
Corner Stats
Fulham: F33 (6.6pg) A17 (3.4pg)
Blackpool: F20(4pg) A35(7pg)
From their opening 5 games, Fulham have racked up 33 corners at an average of 6.6 per game (pg), the second highest in the league. On the other hand, Blackpool have conceded 35 corners, a whopping 7 a game, putting them second for most corners conceded. With both sides possession stats+ the respective for and against corner stats for both teams, I expect Fulham to dominate the ball and accumulate corners. Using Bet 365s bet builder feature, you can add ‘over 4 Fulham corners’ and ‘Fulham to win’ at odds of 2.20
Bet:
Over 4 Fulham corners and Fulham win- ( 2.20)
Stoke Vs Huddersfield
4th place Huddersfield visit 5th placed Stoke at the Bet365 stadium this Saturday. With both sides sat on 10 points and a positive goal difference after 5 games, both managers will be delighted with the starts to the season. Fulham dished out both teams only defeat this season, with Huddersfield taking a 5-1 drubbing in front of their own fans, with Stoke losing 3-0 on their trip to London.
The 3-0 defeat to Fulham aside, the Potters have started the season in promising form. An opening day 3-2 victory at home to Reading was followed by a commendable 0-0 draw at Birmingham, a 3-1 victory at Swansea and a dominant 1-0 win at home to Forest. Michael O’Neil has reinvigorated a stagnating Stoke side, trimming the wage bill and bringing in an impressive armoury of players. The dominating Leo Ostigard and young Ben Wilmot join 6’6 Harry Souttar in central defence. Youngsters Alfie Doughty and Sam Surridge provide depth, whilst experienced championship midfielders Mario Vrancic and Romaine Sawyers will be hoping to push the Potters into promotion contention.
Huddersfield are a team who have pleasantly surprised me. The Terriers were a side I picked out to struggle, but Carlos Corberàn’s men have exceed expectations thus far. Player of the month Sorba Thomas has excelled at wing back, with key man Lewis O’Brien pulling strings in midfield. Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill has slotted into an experienced back 3 containing Matthew Pearson and Tom Lees effortlessly. Whilst they lack an out and out goal scorer, Huddersfield have had 7 different league goal scorers this season, with 4 coming from centre back. Fresh from a 4-0 decapitation of Reading, Huddersfield will be full of confidence.
CORNERS
This is another game where corners appeal. So far this season, Stoke have conceded the 5th most corners (31- 6.2PG) and received the 6th most (30- 6pg) in the Championship so far. Huddersfield have conceded the 10th most (24 – 4.8 pg) and received the 9th most (4.8pg). In terms of overall corners in the game, Stoke are top with 61 corners in their 5 games (12.20pg). Huddersfield are consistent again in tenth, with their games totalling 48 corners (9.60pg). Below are the breakdown of corners game by game.
CORNERS PER GAME-HUDDERSFIELD
Derby VS Huddersfield- 4 Derby- 6 Huddersfield- 10 Overall
Huddersfield VS Fulham- 5 Huddersfield 7 Fulham – 12 Overall
Huddersfield VS Preston- 4 Huddersfield 4 Preston – 8 Overall
Sheffield United VS Huddersfield- 6 Sheffield United 4 Huddersfield -10 Overall
Huddersfield VS Reading- 5 Huddersfield 3 Reading- 8 Overall
From these games, Over 7 corners has landed in 5/5, with Huddersfield hitting 4 or more every game, and conceding 3 or more every game.
CORNERS PER GAME STOKE
Stoke Reading- 6 Stoke 9 Reading -15 Overall
Birmingham Stoke- 7 Birmingham 6 Stoke- 13 Overall
Swansea Stoke- 5 Swansea 5 Stoke – 10 Overall
Stoke Nottingham Forest- 6 Stoke 2 Nottingham Forest- 8 Overall
Fulham- Stoke 8 Fulham 7 Stoke -15 Overall
Likewise with Huddersfield, over 7 corners has landed in every game for Stoke, with double digits being hit in 4/5 of games. Stoke have hit 5 or more in every game and conceded 5 or more in all bar one game. Despite Huddersfields strong start to the season, I cannot see them beating Stoke away. In terms of corners related to the bet , Huddersfield have hit 3+ every game, and conceded 4+ every game. Stoke have conceded 3+ in 4/5 games and hit at least 5 every game. Taking these into account, I will be playing the bet builder proposed below on bet 365. However, if you are after a longer shot, Sky bet are offering 4/1 for 2+ corners each team in each half and 22/1 for 3+ each. Stoke average 3.20 first half corners per game (3.80 against) , with Huddersfield averaging 2 (2.20 against). In the second half Stoke average 2.80 (2.40 against) and Huddersfield average 2.40 (2.60 against).
BET:
Stoke over 3 corners- Huddersfield over 2 corners- Over 7 corners in the match- Stoke double chance- (2.0)- Bet 365
Reading VS QPR
Reading come into this tie on 3 points, lingering 1 point outside of the relegation zone, whereas QPR are unbeaten and in the playoffs. Defeat to QPR could leave manager Velijko Paunović in a precarious position, as it will make it 4 defeats in a row, including a 4-0 defeat to Huddersfield last time out. There is a general bad feeling around the Berkshire club. The same cannot be said for Mark Warburtons west London outfit, who sit 3rd in the division and come into this off the back of a 2-0 home victory over Coventry.
GOALS
Velijko Paunović side have struggled this season, conceding 13 in 5- the most in the division by 5 goals! After losing key man Michael Olise to Crystal Palace, the Royals have struggled to bring players in until late in the window, bringing in the experience of Danny Drinkwater and Scott Dann late in the window. They are yet to keep a clean sheet thus far, conceding 2+ in all but 1 of their games in all competitions. The signs are ominous as they face a potent QPR side who average more than 2 goals a game. This season, all 5 of Readings games have seen over 2.5 goals, as have QPR’s 2 away fixtures. Over 2.5 first half goals has landed in 40% of the Royals games this season. In fact, Reading haven’t had a goalless first half in their last 9 games! (Thanks Wrighty for those stats).
Corners
It may seem a familiar theme for this article, but this game looks primed for corners. At a quick glance, neither sides corners for statistics look too appealing, both sitting in the lower half of the table for corners taken, hitting 21 each (4.20pg). However, it is the corners against that makes this game alluring for corner backers. QPR have conceded the most corners in the league (39- 7.80PG), and Reading are third, conceding 35 (7 per game). Qpr games have seen the 2nd most corners (60-12pg), whereas Reading’s have seen the fourth most (56-11.20 pg). A full breakdown of match corners can be seen below.
READING MATCH CORNERS
Stoke 6-9 Reading- 15
Reading 2-12 Preston-14
Reading 5-7 Bristol City-12
Coventry 10-2 Reading-12
Huddersfield 5-3 Reading-8
As you can see, Reading games frequently see corners, with 12+ landing in 4/5 games. Whilst they can be hit and miss hitting corners, they consistently concede at least 5.
QPR MATCH CORNERS
QPR 7-5 Milwall -12
Hull 7-2 QPR- 9
Boro 7-1 QPR-8
QPR 6-9 Barnsley-15
QPR 5-11 Coventry -16
QPR games against consistently hit 8+ – both them and Reading have yet to see a game with less than 8 corners. Match state can play a part in games, with QPR only managing 1 against Middlesbrough due to having 10 men. With Reading needing a win and QPR on fine form- expect a game full of flags and goals. 10+ corners is 1.925 with bet 365 and over 2.5 goals is 1.86 with paddy power. My bets will include goals and flags on the bet 365 bet builder.
BETS
OVER 3 Corners each- 1.95 b365
Over 3 corners each+ over 1 goal= 2.50 bet365
Stevenage Vs Sutton:
Onto league 2 and Sutton vs Stevenage. Sutton sit bottom of the league on 2 points, having played 4 games- 2 less than most teams, due to having Saturdays game against Colchester postponed due to a covid outbreak. These Covid issues are still with the U’s, with restrictions in place such as no ballboys or mascots. Stevenage have had a very steady start to the season, winning 2, drawing 2 and losing 2- conceding 6 and conceding 7(4 in one game against Bradford). Sutton have only scored 3 and conceded 5- so this is not a game for those keen to see goals.
Embarking on their debut football league season, Sutton are still after their first win, although two opening games against pre season favourites for promotion Salford and Forest Green would not have helped the cause. Playing a 4-4-2 with pace and flair on wing, Sutton aren’t a typical lower half league 2 side and play easy on the eye football.
Stevenage were one of the favourites for relegation pre season (no idea why!). They pride themselves on defensive solidity and conceded the 3rd lowest total goals in league 2 last year. This season has continued the same, with Boro only conceding 7 goals and keeping 2 clean sheets. Luther Wildin, Terrence Vancooten, Scott Cuthbert and Ben Coker are the same defence from last season, with the experienced Chris Lines and Jake Taylor shielding the back 4.
GOALS
As said earlier, don’t expect goals in this one. 5/6 of their games have seen under 2.5 goals, with the 4-1 drubbing by Bradford the exception. Whilst under 2.5 goals has landed in 50% of Sutton games, one of the games that saw over 2.5 was against high scoring Forest Green.
Corner Stats
Aswell as lacking potency in front of goal, neither side are prolific corner winners. Sutton sit 18th for corners, averaging 4.25 a game. Saturdays hosts only hit 3.83 a game, putting them 20th for flags. Taking all this into account , I’m going to be playing the dreaded unders (you’re welcome Boydy). Under 13 corners in the match, as well as under 4 goals and Stevenage double chance pays just over evens at 2.05.
BET
Stevenage DC under 4 goals under 13 corners 2.05
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