Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of May 7-8

Ten draws: Burnley v Aston Villa, Leicester v Everton, Birmingham v Blackburn, Sheffield United v Fulham, Stoke v Coventry, Mansfield v Forest Green, Oldham v Crawley, Stevenage v Salford, Torquay v Chesterfield, Woking v Eastleigh.

Best draws: Burnley v Aston Villa, Leicester v Everton, Birmingham v Blackburn, Mansfield v Forest Green, Stevenage v Salford.

Weekend's best bets: Six aways: Nottingham Forest, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Swindon, Barnet.

Weekend's best bets: Ten homes: Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Derby, Luton, West Brom, Bradford City, Bristol Rovers, Harrogate, Newport.

Pick of the draws: Burnley's exciting charge towards Premier League safety may be checked by Aston Villa, who have underperformed this season but have kept clean sheets in their past two matches. Everton's terrible away record is the main reason they are fighting relegation. However, they could get something from Sunday's trip to Leicester, who may suffer an adverse reaction after losing to Roma in the Europa Conference League semi-finals. Birmingham would almost certainly have been relegated from the Championship except for the points deductions to Derby and Reading. As they host Blackburn, who have blown the chance of reaching the play-offs, these are two dispirited sides with little to play for. Forest Green, already promoted, will probably need to win their final game to become League Two champions but I can't see them doing it at Mansfield, who have an outside chance of automatic promotion. The mood at Stevenage, who have avoided the drop into the National League, will be much more relaxed and it won't surprise me if they hold Salford, who have missed out on the play-offs.

Away days: Nottingham Forest, third in the table, are in pole position in the Championship play-offs. I think they'll make a quick recovery from their midweek defeat at Bournemouth and beat Hull. Blackpool's 2-0 home loss against relegated Derby last weekend was surprising and they won't want to make the same mistake at Peterborough, who also drop into League One. Middlesbrough have regained their mojo and will be disappointed with anything less than three points at Preston. Northampton know that victory at lowly Barrow will virtually guarantee them promotion to League One and I'll be surprised if they don't achieve it. I believe Swindon's marvellous away record (12 wins) will clinch them a League Two play-off place at Walsall. Although they have suffered in the National League this season, Barnet are worth backing at Weymouth, who have done even worse and are going down.

Homes sweet homes: Derby may be down from the Championship but they are far from out and after winning at Blackpool last weekend they are worth a wager against Cardiff, who have disappointed. That 4-1 victory in League Two at Sutton last Saturday was Bradford City's best display so far under Mark Hughes and I'm tipping them to again come out on top against Carlisle. Harrogate's 3-1 win at promoted Forest Green was one of the upsets of last weekend and will encourage them when they take on Sutton at home.

Tipping info: I scored six out of six with my away selections last weekend. Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Sunderland, Leyton Orient and Bristol Rovers all obliged.




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