Aston Villa versus West Brom: The betting superfacts
Aston Villa/WBA, Sat 12.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds
chickendinner is aware that Aston Villa are overwhelming 2/5 favourites to overcome local rivals West Brom tomorrow lunchtime but rather than letting that put you off betting on the game, our researcher Danny Harris has looked into loads of possible bets to consider backing:
» Don’t expect an upset - Villa have lost just one home league game this season while Scott Carson has only managed one clean sheet in his past fourteen games for the Baggies. Bottom of the league West Brom also have the worst goal difference (-19) and have lost eight out of their 10 away games.
» Villa have scored three or more goals seven times this season and West Brom have only managed three away goals in ten games, making the 10/1 offered by Betfair for 3-0 Villa an attractive bet. West Brom have also shipped in 19 goals away from home – the second worst record in the league.
» Bet British - Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Steve Sidwell have scored 20 of the sides 33 league goals this year. A non-English player hasn’t scored a league goal for them (excluding own goals) since October.
» Gabriel Agbonlahor has featured in every Villa league game this season and has already scored nine goals including one against West Brom in Villa’s 2-1 win in September. The league’s top English goal scorer scored a hat-trick at home to Man City earlier this season and is 40/1 with 888sport to repeat that feat.
» Milner scored twice in his last game – his first goals for Villa in 22 games since joining the club permanently last summer. He is 20/1 to repeat this and 8/1 to break the deadlock with 888sport.
» Don’t bet on Roman Bednar to score. All his six goals for West Brom have come at home.
» Paul Robinson who scored for the Baggies against Villa in 2005 hasn’t scored a Premiership goal since. He is 80/1 with Paddy Power to score first.
» Jay Simpson could make his first start for West Brom. In his last start he scored two goals for Arsenal against Wigan in the League Cup. You can bet on him as first scorer at 12-1 with Bet365.
» Jonas Olsson scored the winner in West Brom’s only away win of the season and is 50-1 to score first with Paddy Power.
» If games finished at half time, Villa would be ninth in the Premier League as opposed to fourth. 2/3 (22 out of 33) of their league goals have come in the second half. Draw HT/Villa FT is 7/2 with Ladbrokes.
» 888sport offer odds of 16/1 that the first goal will be an own goal. In their last four league games, Aston Villa have had three of their goals scored by the opposition.
Tags: 888sport, Anytime Goalscorer, Arsenal, Ashley Young, Aston Villa, Bet365, Betfair, Correct Score, First Goalscorer, Football, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, Goal difference, Halftime-Fulltime, James Milner, Jay Simpson, Jonas Olsson, Ladbrokes, Own Goals, Paddy Power, Paul Robinson, Premier League, Roman Bednar, Scott Carson, Steve Sidwell, West Brom, Wigan
Posted: January 9th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 
One Response to “Aston Villa versus West Brom: The betting superfacts”
By Boon on Jan 9, 2009 | Reply
My take on the match!
Aston Villa take on West Brom in the early kickoff on Saturday, and this is probably one of the most lopsided matchups. Aston Villa are currently on a roll and sitting in 4th place in the Premier League. They come into this game having beaten Gillingham 2-1 in the FA cup last weekend, and Young, Barry, and Agbonlahor are all expected to be fit for this match. The only doubts are Laursen and Cuellar, the former having some chance of playing this Saturday, but the Villa backline should not have any problems against a West Brom side that has been somewhat toothless in attack since the loss of Ishmael Miller to injury.
WBA drew 1-1 with Peterborough over the weekend, and although their recent form says they are recovering, with wins over Spurs and Man City, I think otherwise. Both those teams were going through problems of their own and were mentally fragile and short of confidence, which cannot be said of Aston Villa. What is also discouraging is that a strong side was fielded against Peterborough, and their performance was far from convincing. Zuiverloon and Morrison are facing late fitness tests, although they should feature, but Meite and Miller are out.
I am going for the Aston Villa & Liverpool double, offering about evens at most bookies.