Pools tips and best bets for weekend of January 23-24

Ten draws: Manchester United v Southampton, Sunderland v Bournemouth, Reading v Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley v Rochdale, Gillingham v Peterborough, Oldham v Bury, Southend v Coventry, Bristol Rovers v Plymouth, Notts County v AFC Wimbledon, Stevenage v Barnet.

Best draws: Gillingham v Peterborough, Oldham v Bury, Bristol Rovers v Plymouth, Notts County v AFC Wimbledon, Stevenage v Barnet.

Best weekend away bets: Tottenham, Manchester City, Blackburn, Millwall, Wigan, Kilmarnock.

Best weekend home bets: Arsenal, Leicester, West Bromwich, Bolton, Cardiff, Queens Park Rangers, Burton, Scunthorpe, Cambridge, Portsmouth.


Pick of the draws: Gillingham, third in League One, have dropped only five home points all season but some of Peterborough's best performances have come away. They have won six times on the road and can take a point here. Bury would have been an away banker at Oldham this time last month but because of their alarming slide down the table, a draw is the most likely result, despite Oldham winning only once at home this season. League Two high-flyers Bristol Rovers beat their promotion rivals Oxford away last Sunday but they are not so formidable on their own ground and leaders Plymouth can share the spoils. Notts County seem to have gained an instant lift from their new manager Jamie Fullarton. They host AFC Wimbledon, who lie just outside the play-off places and are in fine form. Stevenage, under manager Teddy Sheringham, have struggled to match last season's results and a glut of injuries has not made Saturday's task against near rivals Barnet any easier.

Away days: Tottenham, fourth in the Premier League and outside title contenders, are undefeated away since the opening day of the season and it's hard to see them failing at Crystal Palace, who are going through a mini-crisis, having failed to score for the past five league matches. Manchester City followed a 3-0 FA Cup third-round victory at Norwich by thumping Crystal Palace 4-0 at home last Saturday. The third-placed side are worth a punt at West Ham, whose best results this season have come away from their Boleyn ground. Blackburn are hardly anything special in the Championship but they are in better shape than Charlton, who have conceded 11 goals in their past two games and look odds-on to be relegated. Millwall have moved into League One play-off contention on the back of some good away results and they have the ability to take maximum points at Chesterfield. Fifth-placed Wigan appear to be the away banker of the day at bottom club Crewe, whose home form is dreadful. In the Scottish Premiership I expect Kilmarnock to pile on the agony for Dundee United, who look down even at this early stage of the season.

Homes sweet homes: Bolton must start winning their home games if they are to have any hope of escaping relegation to League One. The Championship's bottom club host mediocre MK Dons on Saturday and they have an excellent chance of making up lost ground. Queens Park Rangers at last registered a win under their new manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink when they triumphed 3-0 at Rotherham last Saturday. That should have settled them down and they can collect another three points from the visit of Wolves, who are erratic. League Two promotion candidates Portsmouth are in great spirits, having knocked Championship side Ipswich out of the FA Cup in midweek. I'm taking them to follow that up by defeating Oxford, who are one place higher and four points better off.


Pools info: Burnley v Derby (No 14 on coupon) has been switched to Monday and will be judged by the pools panel. Aberdeen v Dundee (47) is being played on Friday and is therefore void.

I got three out of five with my best draw selections last weekend, the matches at Stoke, Doncaster and Luton ending all square.