Previewing Saturday’s English Premier League fixtures: Part II

Welcome to Previewing Saturday’s English Premier League fixtures: Part II.

Part II of this segment will include betting odds, match previews and match predictions for Manchester City v Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers v Arsenal, Wigan Athletic v Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bolton Wanderers.

Now then, let’s get started.

Betting Odds

Manchester City (1/4) v Sunderland (14/1); Draw (11/2)

Queens Park Rangers (5/1) v Arsenal (8/13); Draw (16/5)

Wigan Athletic (17/10) v Stoke City (9/5); Draw (23/10)

Wolverhampton Wanderers (7/5) v Bolton Wanderers (11/5); Draw (5/2)

Bet of the Day: Wolves and Bolton draw at Molineux (5/2).

Preview: Manchester City v Sunderland

Martin O’Neill and Sunderland travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on Roberto Mancini and Manchester City on Saturday.

City have tallied 10 points in their last five league games, while Sunderland have notched seven points in the same span.

At the moment, Sunderland are in eight place with 40 points, which puts them 30 points behind Manchester City, who are three points adrift of bitter inner-city rivals Manchester United with just eight league games remaining in 2011-12.

Roberto Mancini’s side have not dropped points at the Etihad Stadium all season long, having posted an impressive 15-0-0 home record thus far.

Can Sunderland get a result at Etihad Stadium?

Prediction

Advantage home team, 4-0 City.

Preview: Queens Park Rangers v Arsenal

Arsene Wenger and the Gunners travel to Loftus Road to battle Premier League newcomers Queens Park Rangers on Saturday night.

At the moment, QPR are in the relegation zone and definitely need a home result against a heavily favored Arsenal side.

“I think we all understand we want to stay in the Premier League and that is our aim,” said QPR boss Mark Hughes.

“We are fully focused on that challenge.

“If we can play as we did against Liverpool [where QPR won 3-2] against the top sides we are coming up against then that will go along way to whether we stay in the league.”

Will QPR shock Arsenal at Loftus Road on Saturday? Don’t count on it.

Prediction

Arsenal win comfortably, 3-0 Gunners.

Preview: Wigan Athletic v Stoke City

Tony Pulis and Stoke City travel to DW Stadium to face Roberto Martinez’s 19th-place Wigan Athletic on Saturday evening.

Much like QPR, Wigan are in desperate need of a home win to crawl themselves out of the relegation zone.

However, Martinez’s side have only won one league game at the DW stadium in 2011-12, bagging a meager 10 points through 15 home matches.

Prediction

Nothing to separate the two sides, 1-1 draw.

Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Bolton Wanderers

In the battle of Wanderers, Bolton travel to Molineaux to confront bottom of the table Wolves in a match with huge relegation implications.

The reverse fixture, which took place on New Years Eve, ended in a 1-1 draw, with Samuel Ricketts scoring for Bolton and Steven Fletcher equalizing for Wolves.

If Saturday’s game ends with the same result, Wolves will be hanging their heads, while Bolton would surely be one step closer to survival.

Prediction

Wanderers 1 – 1 Wanderers.