[Mario]

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
11/21/2014

Stoke City vs Burnley

Home - Stoke City
Last away matches - W-L-L-W-D-W

Walters may not be the most prolific of strikers but he has had a fairly good career at Stoke and has become one of their top players. The Irishman has made seven appearances in the forward position for Stoke so far this season and has scored two goals. According to Squawka.com, he has attempted six shots at goal and has got half of these on target. He has managed to create six chances for his team mates and one of these resulted in an assist for him. One area where Walters is usually quite strong is in his duels. This season, he has won three of the four tackles he has attempted and successfully taken on opponents six times from nine attempts. However, most likely due to his height, he has only won 21 of his 48 aerial duels and this brings his overall duel success percentage down to 50%. He can be a threat for Stoke and Burnley’s weak defence will have to look out for him.

Away - Burnley
Last away matches - L-D-L-D-L-W

Choosing a key player for Burnley is never easy but Ings, despite his form, is one of their better players and the one who has the potential to upset Stoke on Saturday. He has made eight appearances for Burnley this season and has scored one goal for the club. According to Squawka.com, he has only managed to get 28% of his 18 shots on target and despite creating seven chances for his team mates, he has yet to create an assist. He does have a 75% passing accuracy but in contrast with Walters, Ings has only been successful in 32% of his overall duels. Ings’ problems up front have to be put in context with Burnley’s attacking problems. If he can improve his form starting with Stoke this Saturday, then there is no reason the rest of the team can’t do the same.

Asian Handicap
Home - (-0.75)
Away - (+0.75)
Pick - Stoke City (-0.75)
Odds - 1.92
Stakes - 9/10
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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
11/21/2014

Arsenal vs Manchester United

Home - Arsenal
Last away matches - L-W-W-L-W-L

After winning the FA Cup last season and ending a near ten year wait for silverware, many expected Arsenal to kick on and challenge for the Premier League and possibly the Champions League. Neither of those ambitions are expected to be realised this season and Arsenal could be in for a real fight to simply finish in the top four of the Premier League and return to the Champions League for next season. They come into the weekend in 6th place and Arsenal are just 2-3-0 in the League at the Emirates Stadium, scoring 10 goals and conceding 6. A 5 game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end just prior to the international break as Arsenal let a 0-1 lead slip into a 2-1 defeat at Swansea, which came hot on the heels of a 3-3 draw with Anderlecht in the Champions League, a game they had led 3-0. Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 5 home games in all competitions, but they have drawn 3 of those games, and only ended a run of 3 consecutive home League draws when they scored late goals to beat Burnley 3-0.

Away - Manchester United
Last away matches - L-D-L-D-L-D

Louis Van Gaal has changed his mind about being judged in three months which he asked for when coming in as Manchester United manager and now requests he needs three years to turn the fortunes of the club. Like Arsene Wenger, Van Gaal didn't strengthen a defence that lost experienced faces in the summer and it has been problems in that area of the pitch that have prevented Manchester United from putting together a consistent run of results. At the start of the weekend, Manchester United are 8th in the Premier League table and they are 2 points behind West Ham United in the top four, which remains the only reasonable target for Van Gaal this season. Getting back into the Champions League is imperative for a club of this size, but that means improving on a 0-3-2 away record which has seen Manchester United score 6 goals, but concede 9. Manchester United have only lost 1 of their last 6 games, but they needed to end a run of 3 games without a win by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Old Trafford prior to the two week break. Away from home has been a real problem for Manchester United as they have now failed to win any of their last 9 on their travels in all competitions and have lost half of their 6 away games this season.

Asian Handicap
Home - (-0.50)
Away - (+0.50)
Pick - Arsenal (-0.50)
Odds - 2.19
Stakes - 10/10