[Mario]

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
10/31/2014

Hull City vs Southampton

Home - Hull City
Last away matches - D-D-L-D-L-L

The attacking midfielder on loan from Newcastle has started the last two games for the Tigers, and will be hoping to carry his impressive form from the Liverpool game into this crucial match. His link up play with Abel Hernandez could be crucial to Steve Bruce’s side if they hope to create chances against a robust Southampton midfield containing an explosive Steven Davis; his movement and technique to exploit the space between the midfield and defensive lines, as well as his central battle with Morgan Schneiderlin will largely dictate how this game will play out against a Southampton side that have only conceded 5 goals in their opening 9 games (the lowest of the league). His partnership with Abel Hernandez is showing signs of promise, and it’ll be interesting to see how he attempts to break down Southampton’s resolute centre back pairing of Jose Fonte and Toby Alderweireld.

Away - Southampton
Last away matches - W-L-W-W-W-W

Dusan Tadic’s imperious performances have not gone unnoticed recently, but it’s fair to say his partner up front Graziano Pelle is stealing all the headlines at the moment with his fantastic goalscoring record. However, Tadic’s presence in Ronald Koeman’s fluid front three is a big part of Southampton’s attacking intensity, and the 25-year old Serbian from FC Twente has settled in extremely well to the rigors of the Premier League. He notched up four assists in the Saints 8-0 hammering of a hapless Sunderland, only the 6th player to do so in a single game ( Bergkamp, Reyes, Fabregas, Adebayor, & Cazorla were the other 5 – and no, Adebayor’s haul came in a Tottenham shirt). The Saints boss will be hoping Tadic’s link-up play with Long and fellow Eridivisie import Pelle will be enough to see them through against a resolute Hull side.

Asian Handicap
Home - (+0.50)
Away - (-0.50)
Pick - Southampton (-0.50)
Odds - 2.00
Stakes - 9/10
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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
10/31/2014

Everton vs Swansea City

Home - Everton
Last away matches - W-D-L-D-D-L

Everton have won back to back Premier League games since their 2-1 loss at Manchester United and they are unbeaten in 3 games in all competitions going into this weekend. They have won 2 of their last 3 games at Goodison Park in all competitions, but those have sandwiched a 2-3 loss to Crystal Palace, the type of results Everton are looking to take out of their season. The side have moved up to 9th in the Premier League table and fans will point to the fact that Everton are only 2 points behind rivals Liverpool and 1 point behind Manchester United despite their poor start. Roberto Martinez will be keen to see an improvement at Goodison Park where Everton are 1-1-2 this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding 11. Kevin Mirallas is still unfit and will not play in this match along with John Stones who has suffered an injury. Bryan Oviedo has made a comeback in training but it is unlikely he will feature just yet. Arouna Kone has resumed training but he will be given time to prove his full fitness. Romelu Lukaku picked up a knock but it shouldn’t stop him from starting the match this weekend.

Away - Swansea City
Last away matches - L-L-D-L-W-W

Swansea have won just 1 of their last 5 games in all competitions, but they did end a run of 5 games without a win in the Premier League by beating Leicester City 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium last weekend. Playing away from home has been something of a problem for Swansea as they have failed to win any of their last 4 in all competitions, losing 3 of those, since beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the season.The Swans have made a decent start to the Premier League season after some thought they could potentially struggle and they are 6th in the table with 14 points earned so far. Swansea have a 1-1-2 away record where they have scored 5 goals and conceded 7. Swansea are without Spanish center back Jordi Amat who joins English midfielder Leon Britton in the injury front. Dwight TIendalli and Ashley Richards have both recovered from respective injuries but they are still not match fit. Gylfi Sigurdsson should be fit enough to start the match after being subbed off early in second half last weekend. Rory Donelly is also not fully match fit.

Asian Handicap
Home - (-0.50)
Away - (+0.50)
Pick - Swansea City (+0.50)
Odds - 2.21
Stakes - 10/10