Plymouth – Peterborough, English Division 2
2004-03-16 20.45 CET
Pick: Plymouth
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,57
Final reason for bet
· Plymouth is chasing direct promotion and is in good form.
· Plymouth played really well during the weekend by defeating in form Swindon.
· Plymouth has a fully fit squad.
· Peterborough has injuries on defenders.
General comment about the game
Table toppers Plymouth will take on struggling Peterborough in tonight’s game at Plymouth’s Home Park. Plymouth is flying at the moment. They have four victories from their last five games, three of them at home. A month ago they had a slight dip in form which resulted in three consecutive matches without a win. They managed very quickly to shake off these bad results and seem now to be back to their normal high standard. In beginning of March their very successful manager Paul Sturrock decided to leave the club by joining Southampton in the Premiership. It seems that the club made a good move in promoting Kevin Summerfield as care-taker manager. The team has handled this new unwelcome situation very well. Last weekend they managed to win an important game at home against in form Swindon. Swindon had five straight wins before that game and had become a real threat for direct promotion. The game was won because of a fine overall performance. The game was very tight and both teams created chances so when striker Mickey Evans scored the second goal seven minutes before the end it was a relief for the Plymouth faithfuls. In the dying minutes Swindon managed to score a well deserved consolation goal. New manager Summerfield has the benefit of an almost fully fit squad once again. The team will also get boosted by the return from suspension of Hassan Aljofree (17(2) apps, 0 goals). Also Canada International midfielder Jason Bent (15(2) apps, 1 goal) is getting closer to full match fitness after his injury blow in November. He played a small part in last weekend’s game when he came on as a late substitute in second half.
Peterborough is currently on 20th position in the league just above the danger zone. They are three points above Notts County on 21st place. Their recent run with three consecutive wins has put them above the relegation zone for the first time during 2004. But we must bear in mind that they have beaten by three teams that are out of shape; Rushden & Diamonds, Barnsley and Wrexham. Last weekend Peterborough played at home to Wrexham and outclassed them with 6-1. They were 0-1 behind after 20 minutes but after that it was only one team on the field. Wrexham played really bad and Peterborough could almost do as they liked and in the end they had scored six goals. Peterborough has an impressive away record this season. They are currently in fourth place in the away table. This is much due to their reluctance too loose matches. They have not lost away since 24th of January making it four undefeated matches in a row. In one of these matches they played against promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers and after a fine defensive performance they managed a draw, 1-1. After losing their top scorer, Leon McKenzie to Norwich in December the club has tried to strengthen their squad. New signings like striker Clive Platt (10 apps, 2 goals) and defenders Guy Branston (4 apps, 0 goal) and Tom Williams (10(1) apps, 0 goals) has played their part in the team’s recent good run. However, it is former on loan striker (signed in December) Callum Willock (14(5) apps, 7 goals) that has mantled the shoulders of McKenzie by scoring a lot of important goals lately. Manager Barry Fry hoped that he could continue with the same team as recent. However, the team will most certainly suffer a blow because left-sided defender Tom Williams is ill. Williams has been ever present in the starting line up since he joined in late December. Also fellow defender Gareth Jelleyman (13(4) apps, 0 goals) will miss out since he is still a few weeks away from recovering from his injury.
We strongly believe that Plymouth will continue their winning stroll at home tonight. Peterborough has won many points away due to their tight defence but we do not believe that this will be enough when facing the team that scores the most goals on home soil. However, considering the fact that Peterborough has played a lot better recently we keep the stake at a medium, 3%.
Recent games for home team
|
2004-03-13 |
Plymouth-Swindon |
2-1 |
|
2004-03-06 |
Notts County-Plymouth |
0-0 |
|
2004-03-02 |
Plymouth-Sheffield W |
2-0 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Blackpool-Plymouth |
0-1 |
|
2004-02-21 |
Plymouth-Port Vale |
2-1 |
Recent games for away team
|
2004-03-13 |
Peterborough-Wrexham |
6-1 |
|
2004-03-06 |
Rushden-Peterborough |
0-1 |
|
2004-03-02 |
Barnsley-Peterborough |
0-1 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Peterborough-Luton |
1-2 |
|
2004-02-20 |
QPR-Peterborough |
1-1 |
Home table
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Plymouth |
18 |
13 |
4 |
1 |
44-12 |
43 |
Away table
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Peterborough |
18 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
17-20 |
24 |
Links for this game
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// SportsObserver 040316
