Pools tips and best bets for weekend of April 11-12

Ten draws: West Brom v Leicester, West Ham v Stoke, Bolton v Norwich, Derby v Brentford, Barnsley v Chesterfield, Doncaster v Rochdale, Scunthorpe v Crawley, Cambridge v Accrington, Kilmarnock v Aberdeen, Partick v Motherwell.

Best draws: West Ham v Stoke, Bolton v Norwich, Barnsley v Chesterfield, Scunthorpe v Crawley, Kilmarnock v Aberdeen.

Best weekend away bets: Arsenal, Wolves, Watford, Leyton Orient, MK Dons, Fleetwood.

Best weekend home bets: Liverpool, Southampton, Swansea, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Gillingham, Preston, Luton, Plymouth, Wycombe.

Pick of the draws: West Ham's season is finishing with a whimper and even with home advantage they will struggle to beat Stoke, who gave Premier League champions-elect Chelsea a really hard game at Stamford Bridge last Saturday. Norwich are gunning for automatic promotion to the Premier League but their progress may be checked by Bolton, who have done much better since Neil Lennon was appointed manager. A 3-0 away victory over Cardiff on Easter Monday shows what they are capable of. Four wins in a row have moved Chesterfield into the League One play-off places but they may have to settle for a point at Barnsley, who have exceeded expectations this season. Crawley are showing the spirit needed to avoid relegation and a point at Scunthorpe, who are also in danger, will do their cause no harm. Aberdeen dropped a couple of crucial points at home to Partick in the Scottish Premiership last weekend. Their pursuit of leaders Celtic looks forlorn and I won't be surprised if they slip up at Kilmarnock on Sunday.

Away days: It would take a brave man to bet against Arsenal right now. The Gunners boast 10 wins from their last 11 Premier League matches and must be fancied at Burnley, whose struggle to avoid relegation will probably go down to the last weekend of the season. Wolves are another team on a roll. They won both their Easter games to move into the Championship play-off places and they should have too much for mid-table Birmingham. Free-scoring Watford look a sound bet at Millwall, who are seven points from safety with only six matches remaining. There's a relegation "six-pointer" at Gresty Road where Leyton Orient visit Crewe in League One. The Londoners ought to be backed against a team who can't buy a goal at the moment. MK Dons have kept their automatic promotion hopes alive with victories over Swindon (3-0 away) and Scunthorpe (2-0 at home) and they are a confident selection at Port Vale, who have lost six in a row. Fleetwood have come into the promotion reckoning and are worth a punt at Walsall, who seem to have lost momentum after their defeat by Bristol City in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley.

Homes sweet homes: Gillingham, who can beat the best on their day, are worth supporting against cup specialists Bradford City, whose chances of promotion to the Championship are receding. There's a top-of-the-table League One clash at Deepdale where second-placed Preston host runaway leaders Bristol City. I've a hunch that ground advantage will count in this one and I'm taking Preston to cut City's lead at the top. Luton ended a barren run in League Two by beating Tranmere away on Easter Monday. That result has revived their promotion hopes and I believe they will defeat leaders Burton on Saturday. 

Pools Info: Liverpool v Newcastle (match No 2 on coupon) is on Monday and will be adjudged by the pools panel. Brighton v Bournemouth (13) is being played on Friday and is therefore void. Three of my five best draw selections were correct last weekend - Reading v Cardiff, Hamilton v St Johnstone and Arbroath v Annan. Five of my 10 draws were also correct.