Five reasons why England can regain the Ashes this summer

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Despite being whitewashed in Australia, England are just 3.35 on Betfair to regain the Ashes. The reason for the rather short price, beyond patriotic punting, is that Australia have lost some big names while Andrew Strauss’ men are much harder to beat at home. Here are five reasons to be optimistic:

1. Since Australia last won the Ashes away from home in 2001, England have contested 15 home series. Of those they have won ten, drawn three and lost just two, boasting an aggregate test score of 30-8.

2. That contrasts with England’s poor form prior to Australia’s last win here in 2001. Ahead of that, England had won just six of the last 15 series they had hosted and had a negative aggregate test score of 18-20.

3. Prior to the last six Ashes series, Australia had won at least four of their previous five test series. This year they arrive in nowhere near as convincing

Posted: July 1st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 2 Comments

Five reasons why Arsenal should beat Man Utd tonight

Arsenal/Manchester United, 7.45pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Arsenal have underperformed in their two previous semi-final matches this season but Arsene Wenger is confident that his side will deliver tonight and the statistics support him. And if Emmanuel Adebayor can keep his head out of the Milanese clouds for just 90 minutes, his partnership with Robin van Persie could make the difference:

Click here to claim a £25 no loss bet when backing Arsenal at 2.92 on Betfair. The Gunners are currently 4.4 to progress.

1. Arsenal have won two and drawn one of their three home games against Manchester United at the Emirates.

2. The Gunners are currently enjoying their best home form of the season having won six straight matches there.

Posted: May 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Five reasons why Wigan will finally beat Spurs on Sunday

Wigan/Spurs, 1.30pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Wigan have now faced Tottenham eight times without tasting victory but chickendinner researcher Danny Harris has found five reasons why that’s going to change on Sunday in Sky Sports’ Manchester United/Chelsea curtain-raiser. The Latics can still be backed at 2.7 on Betfair.

1. Following three wins on the bounce Wigan are top of the Premier League form table with five wins from six. Spurs in comparison have only one league win in their past six.

2. Although Spurs beat Wigan 3-1 at White Hart Lane in the FA Cup last week, beating Wigan away is another prospect. They haven’t lost in the league at the JJB since October.

Posted: January 9th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why West Brom can still be confident of staying up

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Manchester City fans still shouldn’t be suffer too many sleepless nights worrying about relegation. In each of the last three seasons, the team 18th at Christmas - Portsmouth, West Ham and Sunderland - have survived.

2. Could this be the best Premier League season yet? At this point last year there were 36 points separating first and last, compared to 24 this year and there were 15 points between eighth and eighteenth, compared to six this season.

Posted: December 22nd, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

The top-flight’s worst hosts welcome the best visitors

Everton/Chelsea, 8pm, Setanta Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Everton, the team with the worst home record in the Premier League, host Chelsea, who have a 100% away record but does that make the outcome a foregone conclusion? Perhaps not because the Blues have the chance to go top with a win and they squandered that opportunity last week, much as Liverpool themselves have wasted numerous opportunities to take advantage of the other’s slip-ups. So will Chelsea go top of the league or will the Big Four go without a win for the second week running? Here are all the key stats:

» Everton have taken just six points from eight Premier League home matches, while Chelsea have taken four times that amount on their travels.

» The Toffees haven’t won any of their last twenty meetings with the Blues with their last victory coming in November 2004, when they triumphed 2-1.

Posted: December 22nd, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Is the rise in away wins a result of poor home support?

chickendinner tries to pinpoint why there are more away wins

As part of chickendinner’s ongoing investigation into why away wins are at an all-time high in the top-flight, we are looking at some of the clubs who are better at home and some who are better away in an attempt to identify why this is the case:

Better at home

Manchester United
The champions have won their last six home league games and as the atmosphere hasn’t been too spectacular this year when chickendinner correspondents have visited, it could be that the main reason for their advantage is a fear factor. It could be that most teams go to Old Trafford believing that a draw is as good as they can get and set their stall out to defend. However, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s very rare that teams that set-up in such a way don’t get breached in the end, as Sunderland found out the other week.

Fulham

Posted: December 18th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment