Pools tips and best bets for weekend of October 14-15

Ten draws: Burnley v West Ham, Norwich v Hull, Wolves v Aston Villa, Bristol Rovers v Oxford, Northampton v Wimbledon, Oldham v Blackburn, Forest Green v Newport, Port Vale v Cheltenham, Yeovil v Crewe, Ross v Hearts.

Best draws: Norwich v Hull, Wolves v Aston Villa, Bristol Rovers v Oxford, Oldham v Blackburn, Forest Green v Newport.

Best weekend away bets: Chelsea, Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford City, Coventry, St Mirren.

Best weekend home bets: Manchester City, Swansea, Tottenham, Brentford, Leeds, Fleetwood, Peterborough, Wigan, Luton, Partick.


Pick of the draws: By thrashing Birmingham 6-1 at home in the Championship two weeks ago, Hull, unimpressive before then, may have turned a corner. A repeat of that display should be good enough to earn them a point at Norwich, who have had some good results themselves recently. Although Wolves are in one of the two automatic promotion slots, they face a resurgent Aston Villa side at Molineux and could be denied a home victory. Bristol Rovers have yet to draw in League One this season but that could end on Saturday when they entertain Oxford. Both teams are in fine form and were convincing winners last weekend - Rovers 6-0 at Northampton, Oxford 3-0 at home to Wimbledon. There's every chance they could cancel each other out. A few weeks ago Oldham v Blackburn would have looked an away banker but Oldham's improvement under caretaker manager Richie Wellens has been astonishing. They have moved clear of the relegation zone and look set to continue their rise. League newcomers Forest Green climbed out of the League Two relegation zone with a well merited point at high-flyers Notts County last Saturday. They won't find things easy against in-form Newport but I believe they'll collect another point.

Away days: Chelsea have a perfect Premier League record away from home and I can't see that changing when they visit Crystal Palace, whose plight - bottom of the table with no points or goals -becomes more desperate by the week. Even the fixture list seems to be conspiring against Palace. Watford are not Arsenal's favourite opponents but the north Londoners have recovered well from that 4-0 mauling at Anfield in August and, lying fifth, now have as many points as Chelsea. They will be looking for three more at Vicarage Road. Sheffield Wednesday gave a statement of intent by beating Leeds 3-0 at Hillsborough just before the international break. That result should serve them well at the Championship's bottom club Bolton, who have the worst record of anybody in the Football League. League One promotion contenders Bradford City are away day specialists with four wins and two draws from six matches on the road. They are a confident bet at Bury, who appear to be in for a long hard winter. Coventry's parsimonious defence - only six goals conceded from 12 League Two fixtures - may be the decisive factor in their visit to Accrington. In the Scottish Championship I predict leaders St Mirren will recover from last weekend's surprising home defeat by Raith in the Irn-Bru Cup by defeating Dumbarton.

Homes sweet homes: Swansea have lost all three of their Premier League home games but I've a hunch they'll end that hoodoo against Huddersfield, who seem to have hit a wall after their whirlwind start to the season and are struggling to score. Brentford, 19th in the Championship, have played better than their results suggest, which is why I believe they'll beat mid-table London rivals Millwall and register their first home win of the campaign. In the Scottish Premiership I'm taking home advantage to count when Partick, second from bottom, host fellow strugglers Kilmarnock, who prop up the rest.


Pools info: Birmingham v Cardiff (match No 10 on coupon) has been brought forward to Friday and is therefore void.