Wednesday, 7 December 2022

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of December 10-11

Ten draws: Reading v Coventry, Accrington v Portsmouth, Bristol Rovers v Port Vale, Forest Green v Cheltenham, Milton Keynes Dons v Fleetwood, Harrogate v Northampton, Swindon v Wimbledon, Boreham Wood v Southend, Halifax v Barnet, Solihull Moors v Aldershot. 

Best draws: Accrington v Portsmouth, Bristol Rovers v Port Vale, Harrogate v Northampton, Swindon v Wimbledon, Boreham Wood v Southend.

Weekend's best bets: Six aways: Derby, Plymouth, Wycombe, Leyton Orient, Bradford City, Stockport.

Weekend's best bets: Ten homes: Middlesbrough, Millwall, Sheffield United, Carlisle, Crawley (Friday), Newport, Queen's Park, Chesterfield, Woking, Yeovil.

Pick of the draws: Portsmouth are a bit goal-shy, a weakness which has seen them lose ground in League One. That could hinder them at Accrington, even though the hosts lie two places above the relegation zone. Port Vale were the first side to win at leaders Plymouth this season, so they won't fear a visit to mid-table Bristol Rovers, who are inconsistent. Lowly Harrogate, of League Two, won convincingly at Rochdale last weekend, so promotion-seeking Northampton may not have things all their own way. Wimbledon have recovered well from being eliminated from the FA Cup by Chesterfield, of the National League, and look good for at least a point at Swindon. FA Cup giant-killers Boreham Wood don't inspire the same confidence in National League matches and I'm tipping them to be held by Southend.

Away days: Derby, who lie just outside the League One play-off positions, will be disappointed by anything other than victory at struggling Burton. Plymouth's 2-0 home defeat by Port Vale last weekend was an unexpected setback but they have an excellent chance of putting things right against 20th-placed Cambridge. Wycombe, 2-0 home winners over Portsmouth in their last game, will believe they can inflict Lincoln's first home defeat this season. In League Two, it's impossible to ignore the claims of leaders Leyton Orient at Crewe, who have lost their previous two fixtures. Bradford City were well beaten at  Orient last Saturday but should find ailing Gillingham less of a test on Sunday. Stockport, who thrashed bottom club Hartlepool 5-0 away last Saturday and knocked League One Charlton out of the FA Cup in midweek, will be confident of three points at Rochdale, who come off the back of a 4-1 home defeat by Harrogate.

Homes sweet homes: After a break for the World Cup a full set of Championship fixtures are back with us. Middlesbrough, now managed by Michael Carrick, have climbed well away from the drop zone and will overtake Luton if they beat them on Saturday. I'm backing them to do just that. Although Carlisle, of League Two, only drew 1-1 at home to Sutton last weekend, Barrow, their higher-placed opponents on Saturday, crashed 5-0 at Stevenage. They may take a while to recover from that, which is why I'm going for a Carlisle victory. Newport battled hard before losing at home to League One Derby in the FA Cup. They are lower than Doncaster in League Two but in better form and are well worth a punt.

Pools info: Crawley v Hartlepool (No.22 on coupon) has been brought forward to Friday and is therefore void. Gateshead v Dagenham & Redbridge (43) has been postponed and will be assessed by the pools panel. 


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