Ten draws: Preston v Queens Park Rangers, West Brom v Stoke, Bolton v Sheffield Wednesday, Doncaster v Crewe, Gillingham v Wycombe, Shrewsbury v Ipswich, Carlisle v Exeter, Tranmere v Bristol Rovers, Dumbarton v Peterhead, Montrose v Airdrieonians.
Best draws: West Brom v Stoke, Gillingham v Wycombe, Carlisle v Exeter, Tranmere v Bristol Rovers, Montrose v Airdrieonians.
Weekend's best bets: Six aways: Tottenham, Plymouth, Wigan, Mansfield, Cove, Grimsby.
Weekend's best bets: Ten homes: Arsenal, Manchester City, Watford, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Reading, Rotherham, Forest Green, Stockport, Wrexham.
Pick of the draws: West Brom and Stoke, who play at The Hawthorns on Saturday, have had desperately disappointing seasons in the Championship and the odds on a stalemate must be fairly short. Wycombe improved their League One promotion prospects with a fine 4-1 win at Cambridge in midweek but Gillingham, their hosts, were only beaten in the last minute at Sunderland last weekend and are making a good fist of trying to avoid relegation. Exeter, having won 1-0 at Newport last Saturday, are a decent bet for automatic promotion from League Two but may not have things all their own way at Carlisle, whose recent form is just as encouraging. Joey Barton's Bristol Rovers have come from nowhere to join the hunt for promotion and I'm tipping them to hold Tranmere, a team they have just overtaken. Airdrieonians, one of the high-flyers in Scottish League One, to share the spoils at Montrose.
Away days: Tottenham, who moved into fourth place in the Premier League after a 5-1 home rout of Newcastle last Sunday, are clicking at just the right time and will be confident of prevailing at Aston Villa, where they nearly always do well. By contrast, Villa are on the crest of a slump. On-form Plymouth, fourth in League One, are recommended at Burton, who have little to play for except pride while Wigan, the new leaders after beating Accrington 3-0 at home in midweek, should have too much for Lincoln. Nigel Clough's Mansfield, seeking promotion from League Two, are surely an away banker at bottom side Scunthorpe. Cove, the Scottish League One leaders, seem a good thing at Falkirk, who have faded. Grimsby, on the back of an outstanding 4-1 victory at Chesterfield in the National League last Saturday, are a confident selection at ailing Weymouth.
Homes sweet homes: Manchester City v Liverpool is a clash of the Premier League giants on Sunday. Although Liverpool, one point behind City from the same number of games, have been the more impressive lately, I've a hunch that Pep Guardiola's players will make the most of ground advantage and come out on top. Nothing more than a win for relegation-threatened Watford will do on Saturday. They gave Liverpool a few scares before losing 2-0 at Anfield last week and they are worth a wager against Leeds. Reading's fortunes in the Championship have improved since Paul Ince was appointed interim manager. They now look likely to avoid relegation and I believe they'll get another three points when they host Cardiff.
Pools info: Five of my six away selections were correct last weekend: Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Fleetwood, Port Vale and Airdrieonians.
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