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Premier League: Stoke City vs. Aston Villa Predictions

Premier League 2010 Gambling Predictions

Matchup: Stoke City vs. Aston Villa
Date: Monday, September 13
Time: Kick-off: 3:00PM EST
Venue: Britannia Stadium
TV: ESPN 3

EPL Fixture Odds: Stoke City +140
Aston Villa +187
Draw +225

O/U 2 ½

French former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier will miss the trip to Britannia Stadium on Monday as he still has loose ends to tie up with his former employers, delaying his head coaching debut with the Villans until after the clubs returns.

Aston Villa lost its only away game after starting out with back-to-back wins with an embarrassing 6-0 pounding by newly promoted Newcastle United in their last outing.

Interim manager Kevin MacDonald will again handle the team looking to get back on track against a Stoke side that they have had recent success with, taking three points from both matches last season in a 1-0 win at home and a scoreless draw in Birmingham.

Stoke have dropped three straight matches to begin the season failing to pick up a single point with losses at Wolverhampton and defending champions Chelsea,  as well as failing to secure its first point at home to the Hotspur, as a late equalizer was controversially disallowed despite the ball clearly crossing the goal line.

Making matters worse, Stoke will be are without speedy forward Mamady Sidibe, and most likely goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen who missed Denmark’s Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday evening as not to risk aggravating an infection in an elbow injury he sustained on the opening day of the season at Wolverhampton. He is still hoping to be fit for Monday night’s match against his former club, but will need to pass a fitness test on Sunday.

The good news is that striker Kenwyne Jones who also suffered an injury to his ankle in the Potters opener against the Wolves, has been cleared to play and will be joined by the new signings of controversial striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and winger Jermaine Pennant both who were signed on  transfer deadline day  to bolster Stokes’ offensive options.

Meanwhile, Villa will be without midfielder Stephen Ireland, who injured his hamstring in the warm-up before the 1-0 win over Everton.

The Potters have posted just one victory from their last eight Barclays Premier League matches at Britannia Stadium, so home pitch advantage does not seem to factor into the equation.

However, it does bode well for an Aston Villa side that has kept four clean sheets in their last five away from Villa Park, but has not posted a victory at Stoke since August 1984 when they were 3-1 victors after goals from Peter Withe and Mark Walters.

That all changes on Monday as Villa walk away with a 1-0 win over the Potters in this one.

Matt Martz is a sportswriter for the Bakersfield Californian located in Central California. “Football (soccer) is a game in which a handful of fit men run around for one and a half hours watched by millions of people who could really use the exercise.”

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