Back surging Saints to beat Wigan
Southampton look good value to start their St Mary's Premier League return with a win to nil at football betting odds of 23/10.
In August 2010, Southampton kicked off their season with a 1-0 home loss to Plymouth in the murky depths of League One.
Join bwin here now to place up to £20 in free bets on Southampton v Wigan!
Two years and two promotions later, they were ten minutes from earning a draw at reigning Premier League champions Manchester City last weekend.
Much of the credit for that progress must go to manager Nigel Adkins, who has built an amazing record at St Mary’s, with just three home losses suffered in the past three seasons.
| Champions League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dortmund | 1-1 | Bayern Munich | £150.00 | (13/2) |
| Dortmund | 1-2 | Bayern Munich | £160.00 | (7/1) |
| Dortmund | 0-2 | Bayern Munich | £175.00 | (31/4) |
| Dortmund win | £84.00 | (16/5) | ||
| Draw | £82.00 | (31/10) | ||
| Bayern Munich win | £34.00 | (7/10) | ||
He’ll be confident of continuing that run on Saturday against a Wigan side who lost 13 times away last season, which makes bwin’s 3Way football betting odds of evens for a home win look good value.
The Latics tend to struggle with a deficit, losing 15 times when they fell behind last year, so if you’re sold on the idea of Southampton scoring first, 23/10 on the hosts winning to nil also offers decent value.
But Roberto Martinez’s team proved at the end of last season they can beat anyone on their day and could find some support at a lengthy 13/5, while the draw is at 12/5.
Much of Saints’ home success has been built on their goalscoring (they fired 49 in 23 Championship games on the south coast last term) and it’s worth betting on them maintaining that average by notching two or more against the Latics at a decent price of 39/20.
Furthermore, over three-quarters of that tally were first goals and the Saints can be backed at 18/25 to break the deadlock again.
Wigan, of course, will have other ideas. They will be desperate to show that the impressive final few weeks of the 2011/12 campaign were not just a flash in the pan, but they need to improve against teams around them in the table.
The Latics tend to struggle with a deficit, losing 15 times when they fell behind last year, so if you’re sold on the idea of Southampton scoring first, 23/10 on the hosts winning to nil also offers decent value.
New customers using the free £20 bet they receive when registering with bwin would win £66 if Saints do score a shut-out victory.
Yet if Martinez’s more experienced Premier League troops do start well, then they should hang on for at least a point, meaning Wigan/Draw at half-time/full-time could be worth a very small play at 25/2 for punters opposing the Saints.
But on the evidence of last season and the considerable threat they posed City on Sunday, I’ll be sticking with the hosts to record a first top-flight win since 2005.
Recommended bets:
Southampton to score two or more goals @ 39/20
Southampton to win and keep a clean sheet @ 23/10
New customers can register here to claim their free £25 bet or click here to see all our Premier League odds.
Follow us on Twitter @bwinbetting