Pools tips and best bets for weekend of Sept 15-16

Ten draws: Huddersfield v Crystal Palace, Bristol City v Sheffield United, Hull v Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday v Stoke, Peterborough v Portsmouth, Walsall v Doncaster, Cheltenham v Crewe, Grimsby v Oldham, Notts County v Stevenage, Swindon v Bury.

Best draws: Hull v Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday v Stoke, Cheltenham v Crewe, Notts County v Stevenage, Swindon v Bury.

Best weekend away bets: Arsenal, Leeds, Derby, Charlton, Lincoln, Harrogate.

Best weekend home bets: Chelsea, Wolves, Blackburn, Preston, Swansea, Fleetwood, Luton, Shrewsbury, Crawley, Rangers.


Pick of the draws: Hull and Ipswich have only one win between them in the Championship this season and it wouldn't surprise me if neither of them managed to gain maximum points from this fixture. Stoke, just down from the Premier League, are surely better than their 18th position in the Championship suggests and I think they can come away with a draw at Hillsborough. Crewe have not  scored away from home in League Two but they visit Cheltenham, who have lost all their three home matches, so I suspect the teams will cancel each other out. Notts County's demise has been one of the shocks of the season so far. They lie bottom of League Two and have sacked manager Kevin Nolan but at least they should be able to get something from the visit of Stevenage, who are mediocre at best. Swindon won 1-0 at Morecambe last Saturday but Bury's 4-0 home triumph over Grimsby was even better and I'm backing them to hold the Wiltshire side.

Away days: Arsenal have got their Premier League season up and running with two consecutive wins and they'll be disappointed not to make it a hat-trick at Newcastle, who will do well to finish out of the bottom three. Leeds, the free-scoring Championship leaders, are unbeaten and I believe that record will still be intact after they've played at Millwall on Saturday. The south-east Londoners have faded after a promising start to the season. Manager Frank Lampard has managed to squeeze something extra from his Derby players and they are looking good for three points at Rotherham. Lee Bowyer's appointment as Charlton manager was confirmed last week and the team responded by beating Wycombe at home. They can go one better this weekend by winning at ailing Bradford City. Although League Two leaders Lincoln suffered an unexpected home defeat by Crawley last Saturday, I'm taking them to bounce straight back at Macclesfield, who await their first win after clinching promotion last season. Harrogate, the surprising leaders of the National League, will be confident of more success at Maidstone.

Homes sweet homes: Although Blackburn are no great shakes, they must fancy their chances against Steve Bruce's Aston Villa, who are sliding down the Championship table after an encouraging start.
Joey Barton is doing well as the manager of unfashionable League One club Fleetwood. They lie sixth and gained a creditable 1-1 draw at Sunderland last weekend. That should give them the confidence to see off the challenge of Accrington. Lowly Shrewsbury had the better of their 1-1 draw at promotion-chasing Portsmouth last Saturday and I've a hunch they'll land their first victory of the season at the expense of off-colour Southend.


Pools info: Birmingham v West Bromwich Albion (match No 9 on coupon) has been brought forward to Friday and is therefore void.