Wolverhampton v Eastbourne

For the second time this season, Sky Sports take another trip to Monmore Green for what looks to be a very exciting fixture against the top of the table Eastbourne Eagles.

On paper Wolverhampton have a strong top 5 but so far their season looks like this: lost away to Eastbourne, lost away to Lakeside and lost home & away to Poole. Luckily they bounced back last week to win by 4 points at home to Swindon and this week they'll be hoping to do the same if not better as this is not the start the 2009 champions would of hoped for. You can always rely on Freddie Lindgren, Peter Karlsson and Tai Woffinden to produce the goods, however maybe Ty Proctor and Ludvig Lindgren need to up their game a little but you can't fault their efforts. Tai will be full of confidence after becoming British Under 21 champion again on Friday after a 6 ride maximum. For Wolves to grab all 3 points from this meeting they need their reserves get on the scoreboard a bit more and help with heat advantages. Last time Sky were at Wolves, they lost to titles favourites Poole but with Eastbourne unbeaten so far this year, will this prove to be a harder test for the monmore men?

Eastbourne have had possibly the best start to the season they could ask for after winning all 5 of their matches, 4 at home and 1 away. This away meeting will be the toughest of their season so far as Wolverhampton are known for having such a good home record (until a couple of weeks ago of course). Eastbourne benefited from Poole needing to drop a rider due to averages as the eagles now have a great number 1 in Bjarne Pedersen. They've also welcomed back Lewis Bridger to East Sussex, who is a brilliant reserve, and won't be there for much longer! The way Eastbourne have built there team means they will always have a strong reserve. Joonas Kylmakorpi, Cameron Woodward, Lukas Dryml and Simon Gustafsson make their team strong throughout, especially with young Simon Gustafsson gaining his first British maximum last week. Eastbourne have just signed Timo Lahti at reserve as a replacement for departing Pole Dawid Lampart. On Saturday the Eagles ended Poole's unbeaten record so the team will head to the Midlands full of confidence, will they leave with the a 6th straight win?

Line Ups:

Wolverhampton:

1) Freddie Lindgren

2) Ty Proctor

3) Ludvig Lindgren

4) Tai Woffinden

5) Peter Karlsson

6) Tyson Burmeister

7) Ricky Wells

One to watch: Tai Woffinden

Eastbourne:

1) Bjarne Pedersen

2) Lukas Dryml

3) Simon Gustafsson

4) Cameron Woodward

5) Joonas Kylmakorpi

6) Lewis Bridger

7) Taylor Poole

One to watch: Lewis Bridger

Prediction: 46-44; I was going to opt for an away win but I think Wolverhampton might just take it, either way a very close match.

Kings Lynn v Lakeside

Norfolk Arena is the venue for this weeks Sky Sports Elite League Clash between the Kings Lynn Stars and Lakeside Hammers.

Kings Lynn are a new edition to the British Speedway Elite League this year and in my opinion I think Sky Sports have rightly predicted them to finish 3rd. They have a very strong top 3. Kenneth Bjerre took a step up in his career last year, he shone both on the Grand Prix stage and in his league racing and he'll be sure to do this same this year, if not improve! Niels Kristian Iversen is also a top class rider and on his day can beat the best. Mads Korneliussen can be a bit hit and miss, one meeting he's an awesome rider, the next not so great, but will definitely score a lot of double figure points for Kings Lynn. They've brought Olly Allen & Tomas Topinka up from their premier league side and they'll benefit from knowing the track well. The rest of the team is filled with young riders..Lasse Bjerre, Sam Masters, Morten Risager and Filip Sitera. Kings Lynn will be hoping they can continue their winning run at home in front of the sky cameras.

Lakeside built their team around Lee Richardsson and Adam Shields, who are a great top 2 and have a lot of experience under them and are also ex kings lynn stars. They've retained Peter Ljung from their 2010 team after he was brought in towards the end of the season to replace Daniel Davidsson, and it's so far so good for Swede. Their flying finn Kauko Nieminen is definitely living up to his name this season which makes their top 5 so strong. They've had a bit of trouble with their last rider in the main body as Piotr Swiderski has not been able to get permission to ride for the hammers due to his homeland Poland having issues with the new silencers, however he finally was allowed to ride last week. Luckily Lakeside could rely on home favourite Jonas Davidsson to come back for 1 meeting only to help his old side out. Lakeside's reserve berths are made up of young Brit Robert Mear and Kyle Legault/Stuart Robson. After drawing at Swindon on Thursday, Lakeside will be hoping to go 1 better and bag their first away win of the 2011 season.

There is a big difference in Kings Lynn & Lakeside tracks. Kings Lynn is a very fair track with no real home track advantage which has been rewarded with holding big meetings such as the World Cup and major Elite League events. Norfolk Arena has been known for the great racing it produces. Whereas Lakeside is a small tight track that takes a while to get used to which allows Lakeside to have a good home track advantage. Not many riders like going there due to the tightness and trickiness of the track but next week the Arena Essex Raceway stages the British Under 21 final.

Team Line Ups:

Kings Lynn:

1) Kenneth Bjerre 9.47 (DEN)

2) Tomas Topinka 4.58 (CZ)

3) Olly Allen (C) 4.78 (GB)

4) Mads Korneliussen 6.26 (DEN)

5) Niels Iversen 7.76 (DEN)

6) Lasse Bjeere 3.48 (DEN)

7) Fillip Sitera 3.00 (CZ)

Key rider / One to watch : Olly Allen / Lasse Bjerre

Lakeside:

1) Lee Richardson 8.45 (GB)

2) Kauko Nieminen 5.35 (FIN)

3) Adam Shields 7.39 (AUS)

4) Piotr Swiderski 6.48 (POL)

5) Peter Ljung 4.92 (SWE)

6) Robert Mear 3.15 (GB)

7) Kyle Legault 4.20 (CAN)

Key rider / One to watch : Piotr Swiderski

Prediction: Kings Lynn 48-42 Lakeside

Wolverhampton v Poole

Wolverhampton Wolves play host to the Sky Sports cameras this week as they take on the Poole Pirates in an exciting looking elite league fixture.

Poole and Wolves finished 1st and 2nd in last seasons regular table and guess what, Poole are predicted 1st and Wolves predicted 2nd for this years title, that shows how strong both teams are.

Wolves brought back Peter Karlsson after a year away at Belle Vue last year and so far this season he has been in unbelievable form! I've seen him ride so many times but after seeing him ride at Lakeside friday I was shocked/impressed with how brilliant he was! 18 point maximu

m for a man of his experience is incredible. His gating was superb as well! Without a doubt Freddie Lindgren is an amazing number 1 rider, proved by him finishing top of the elite league averages last year. Ty Proctor hasn't had a great start to the season and I think is having trouble with the new silencers (like many people), he needs to improve for Wolves to do well. Wolves reserves are a bit unpredictable, Ricky Wells has been doing better than first though which is great news for Wolves, It's Tyson Burmeisters first season in the UK so understandably might take a bit for him to find his feet but should come good.

Poole's top 2 of Chris Holder and Davey Watt are also on great form and can expect good things from them both. With Darcy Ward still out injured from his motorcross accident, Poole might find it a bit hard to cover for him. and with this originally being an elite shield fixture, it comes as a surprise that Poole agreed for it to change to an elite league one, i'm sure they would have prefered Ward to be riding for their elite league clash with Wolves Another chance to see up and coming Swedish star Dennis Andersson, it will be interesting to see if he continues his impressive from, such a talent! Jason Doyle was the star of the show for Poole in last weeks Sky meeting, can he repeat that and win the match for Poole again? I guess we'll have to wait and see but Poole will be hoping he rides like he did last week. He's doing really well for both Poole and Rye House considering when he left Australia he didn't even have a UK team!

Team Line Ups

Wolverhampton:

1) Freddie Lindgren

2) Ludvig Lindgren

3) Ty Proctor

4) Tai Woffinden

5) Peter Karlsson

6) Tyson Burmeister

7) Ricky Wells

One to watch: Peter Karlsson

Poole:

1) Chris Holder

2) Renat Gafurov

3) Jason Doyle

4) R/R for Darcy Ward

5) Davey Watt

6) Christian Hefenbrock

7) Dennis Andersson

One to watch: Dennis Andersson

Prediction: 49-41