Pools tips and best bets for weekend of Jan 24-25

Ten draws: Northampton v Newport, Oxford v Exeter, Kilmarnock v Partick, Queen of the South  v Hibernian, Airdrieonians v Stranraer, Stenhousemuir v Ayr, Annan v Berwick, Montrose v Albion, Valencia v Sevilla, Inter Milan v Torino.

Best draws: Northampton v Newport, Kilmarnock v Partick, Queen of South v Hibernian, Annan v Berwick, Montrose v Albion.

Best weekend away bets: Bournemouth, Leyton Orient, Peterborough, Wycombe, Burton, Arbroath.

Best weekend home bets: Birmingham, Blackburn, Liverpool, Watford, Wolves, Fleetwood, Gillingham, Bury, Tranmere, Dumbarton.


Pick of the draws: Newport's 4-0 defeat at Cambridge last Saturday was out of character for the League Two promotion challengers and normal service should be resumed for their visit to mid-table Northampton. Kilmarnock have not drawn at home in the Scottish Premiership this season but there's a good chance they will break their duck against Partick. Neither team looks convincing. Queen of the South (4th) and Hibernian (3rd) are two in-form sides in the Scottish Championship and, as the table suggests, there is little between them. In Scottish League Two I'm taking Berwick to stay above Annan by forcing a stalemate and Montrose, who gained a creditable point at Berwick last weekend, to deny higher-placed Albion victory.

Away days: Championship leaders Bournemouth came unstuck at Leeds in midweek but they are worthy promotion contenders and well worth a punt to knock Aston Villa out of the FA Cup on Sunday. Villa's lack of goals (only 11 in the Premier League this season) is embarrassing, whereas Bournemouth are prolific scorers (57 in the Championship so far). It will be surprising if Leyton Orient fail to avoid relegation from League One and their match at vulnerable Colchester on Saturday gives them a great opportunity to climb nearer safety. Peterborough's decline into mid-table has been startling but they can recover some lost ground at Notts County, who are unreliable at home. It is hard to find fault with either Wycombe or Burton, who are respectively first and second in League Two. Wycombe's claims cannot be ignored at struggling Mansfield and Burton must be backed at York, who have won only once at home. Arbroath, who lead Scottish League Two, lost at Queen's Park last Saturday but should return to winning ways at Clyde.

Homes sweet homes: West Bromwich Albion are expected to improve under new manager Tony Pulis but they may not survive a trip to fierce rivals Birmingham in this weekend's FA Cup fourth round. Birmingham's improvement under Gary Rowett has been one of the noteworthy aspects of the season and the Championship team will be eager to claim another scalp. Another Premier League side under threat are Swansea, who have to travel to Blackburn. Swansea's confidence was badly dented by that 5-0 home thrashing handed out by Chelsea and they may be feeling worse at the final whistle on Saturday. Three goals in the final 10 minutes gave Gillingham a priceless home win over Coventry last weekend and moved them out of the League One relegation zone. I believe they'll gain another three points at the expense of inconsistent Oldham. Tranmere (22nd) are only two places higher than Hartlepool (24th) but have nine more points. Expect that margin to increase on Saturday evening.


Pools info: Cambridge v Dagenham & Redbridge (No 3 on coupon), Getafe v Celta Vigo (40) and Empoli v Udinese (45) will be decided by the pools panel. St Johnstone v Aberdeen (17) is being played on Friday and is therefore void. There were only five score draws on the coupon last weekend; I forecast three of them - the games at Leeds, Bury and Portsmouth.

Betting info: I scored four out of six with my away selections last week. The winning teams were Liverpool, Bournemouth, Bristol City and Luton.