English Premier League Round 21 (9/01 - 11/01)

Birmingham City v Manchester United
Arsenal v Everton
Manchester City v Blackburn


Saturday, January 9

Arsenal v Everton
Team news: Arsenal - Fabregas (OUT), Song (Int.duty), Eboue (Int.duty), Denilson (IN), Rosicky (IN) -- Everton - Donovan (IN), Yakubu (Int.duty), Saha (IN), Hibbert (OUT)

Verdict: Arsenal have really built up a head of steam now and lie just 4pts behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand. Their opponents in Everton are undefeated in their last 5 league meetings including a 2-0 win over Burnley in their last outing, so both teams go into this fixture in a positive frame of mind.

Bad news for Arsenal is that Fabregas will still be missing until atleast next week's fixture with Bolton while the impressive Song is at the African Cup of Nations. Denilson and young Ramsey are likely to be their replacements against what is likely to be a hard working trio of Cahill, Neville and Fellaini. Fellaini has been in some very good form in the past months, breaking up play expertly while distributing the ball with precision. I predict that he will be a key factor in stopping Arsenal from progressing through the heart of Everton's defence.

Arsenal are favourites here but the absentees in addition to Everton's current form brings me to the conclusion that this contest will be closer than some people realize.

Pick: Everton +1.5AH @1.83 (sbobet, 7 units)
Arsenal 2 - 2 Everton

Birmingham City v Manchester United
Team news: Birmingham City - Carsley (OUT), Parnaby (OUT), Carr (IN) -- Manchester United - Vidic (OUT), Scholes (IN)

Verdict: 11 games unbeaten and counting, Birmingham City will look to claim another scalp when a wounded Manchester United come into town. Birmingham City extended their impressive run with a trademark solid performance, winning 1-0 away at Stoke City. Manchester United brushed aside a dissapointing Wigan Athletic side as Rooney put on the style in a 5-0 win. However, this victory was some what tarnished as
the Red Devils bowed out 0-1 to Leeds United, in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup.

There's no doubting that Birmingham City keeper, Joe Hart, is the form keeper of the competition. His keeping credentials were again on show in the 0-0 FA Cup draw at Nottingham Forrest, as they were in recent performances against Everton, Chelsea and Stoke City. It is questionable though as to how long Hart can keep up this incredible form, and in turn keep Birmingham City's undefeated record intact. Manchester United will be breathing fire after going down to bitter rivals Leeds United, and Birmingham City will be the unfortunate ones on the receiving end of an expected backlash. Manchester United do look fragile in defence with the absence of Ferdinand and Vidic, but I doubt Birmingham City can take advantage of this as they have only scored 8 goals at St Andrew's, the poorest goal conversion (at home) in the league. Fletcher, Valencia, Giggs, Evra, Fabio and Carrick will come back into the side that lost to Leeds United, and I expect these inclusions to restore some pride to the red half of Manchester. All good runs must come to an end.

Pick: Manchester United -0.75AH @1.88 (sbobet, 7 units)
Birmingham City 1 - 1 Manchester United

Monday, January 11

Manchester City v Blackburn
Team news: Manchester City - Adebayor (Int. duty), Toure (Int. duty), Lescott (OUT), Ireland (OUT), Wright-Phillips (OUT), Viera (doubtful) -- Blackburn - Emerton (IN), Dunn (IN), Diouf (susp.), Grella (OUT)

Verdict: New Manchester City manager, Mancini, will look to continue his winning start following comfortable wins over Stoke City (2-0) and Wolverhampton (0-3) in recent weeks. Opposing manager, Sam Allardyce, sees his team suffering a bad run of form with only 3pts above the relegation zone and winless in 8.

Mancini has a selection headache for this game, especially in defence with 3 of his preferred back men either sidelined by injury or in Toure's case, away on international duty. Vincent Kompany will again be deployed at centre-back, most likely partnering an out of sorts Micah Richards, with Zabaleta and Silvinho most likely filling in the wing-back roles. If Blackburn can supply the ball often enough to the like of McCarthy/Di Santo, then they can expect some reward against such a frail back line. I expect Manchester City to be vulnerable from set pieces also, a part of the game which Blackburn are very dangerous in especially with Samba and Nelsen.
If Blackburn are to get anything from this game though, they must improve on a dismal away record of 1-2-7 with 7 goals scored and 24 conceded. Manchester City are a typically high scoring team so it is almost a given that the Sky Blues will get on the score sheet. Taking into consideration Manchester City's defensive absentees, I expect goals at either end here.

Pick: Over 2.5 goals @1.82 (sbobet, 7 units)
Manchester City 4 - 1 Blackburn