Statistical Betting Preview: Newcastle vs Stoke

Newcastle ran out comfortable winners over Crystal Palace last weekend, recording a 0-3 win which took them to fifth in the Premier League.

Yohan Cabaye continued his strong recent form against the Eagles last weekend, compiling the best shot accuracy rate of any player in the league to have had more than 3 attempts on goal, with 80% of his efforts testing Julian Speroni. Cayabe is 3/1 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

Defender Mathieu Debuchy has been pulling in some quite superb defensive statistics this season according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He has one of the best tackle success rates of any player in the top 20 in the league for total tackles attempted, successfully completing 84.1% of his 63 challenges this term.

Alan Pardew will have been pleased to see his side’s victory over Palace built upon some excellent defending, with Vurnon Anita the pick of last weekend’s performers. He attempted 7 tackles against the Eagles, winning all of them and conceding just one foul.

Peter Crouch’s winner helped Stoke to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, as they extended they unbeaten home run in the league to six games.

Ryan Shawcross has been turning in some exceptionally committed displays this season, the Stoke captain repeatedly putting his body on the line and leading from the front. He currently ranks second on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for blocks with 25.

Forward Marko Arnautovic has maintained his impressive performance level since arriving at the Brittania. The imposing Austrian clearly backs his own ability and has a physique which will cause problems for defences. Indeed, despite being a relatively new arrival, he’s managed to contribute more offensively than any other Stoke player this term, racking up a squad-high 52 attacking contributions (shots on goal, assists, dribbles, crosses). You can find Arnautovic at an industry best 9/2 to score at any time this weekend with 888sport.com.

Despite a glaring error which helped to concede what could have been a very costly goal for his side, Stoke fans would do well to remember that Erik Pieters has been one of their most consistent performers this season. No Stoke player has attempted more tackles than Pieters (70), the Dutch international winning an excellent 78.6% of them.