Ten draws: Nottingham Forest v West Ham, Birmingham v Sunderland, Preston v Blackburn, Stoke v Coventry, Carlisle v Cambridge, Northampton v Bristol Rovers, Peterborough v Blackpool, Shrewsbury v Wigan, Colchester v Accrington, Airdrieonians v Ayr.
Best draws: Nottingham Forest v West Ham, Birmingham v Sunderland, Preston v Blackburn, Northampton v Bristol Rovers, Airdrieonians v Ayr.
Weekend's best football bets: Six aways: Arsenal, Manchester United, Brighton, Ipswich, Mansfield, Queen of the South.
Weekend's best football bets: Ten homes: Newcastle, Tottenham, Huddersfield, Leicester, Bolton, Leyton Orient, Bradford City, Crewe, Salford, Aberdeen.
Pick of the draws: Surely, West Ham, thrashed 6-0 at home by Arsenal last Sunday, cannot play as badly again and have a chance to partly redeem themselves at Nottingham Forest, who are too close to the Premier League relegation zone for comfort. Tony Mowbray, in charge of struggling Championship side Birmingham, faces Sunderland, the club he used to manage, on Saturday and will be encouraged by Birmingham's midweek home win over Blackburn. The under-appreciated John Eustace is the new manager at Blackburn, who lifted the mood at Ewood Park by beating Stoke 3-1 last weekend. They visit Preston, who are inconsistent. It's almost impossible to predict how Bristol Rovers, mid-table in League One, will fare on any given week. For example, beaten 2-1 at home by Burton last Saturday, they recovered from two goals down to win 3-2 at Stevenage in midweek. Having unexpectedly lost and then won, they are worth backing to draw at Northampton, who are also mid-table. Ayr, of the Scottish Championship, fought pluckily before being defeated 2-0 at Rangers in the Scottish Cup fifth round last weekend. They will be confident of holding Airdrieonians.
Away days: Premier League title challengers Arsenal showed the ruthlessness required in winning 6-0 at West Ham and it's hard to see them slipping up at Burnley, who look doomed to relegation. A fine 2-1 victory at Aston Villa last Sunday suggests that Manchester United may have turned a corner and they should be backed at Luton, whose revival was cut short by a 3-1 home loss to bottom team Sheffield United last Saturday. A goal in the final seconds condemned Brighton to a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham last weekend. On Sunday they visit Sheffield United, who are far less formidable opponents. Ipswich returned to winning ways in the Championship with a 4-0 midweek dismantling of Millwall. The Tractor Boys visit Swansea, who crashed 4-0 at home to Leeds in midweek. Mansfield, second in League Two, went goal crazy at home to Harrogate in midweek, winning 9-2, and will surely score enough against Walsall. Queen of the South, in Scottish League One, look an away banker at Edinburgh City, who prop up the table.
Homes sweet homes: Championship strugglers Huddersfield have scored eight goals in their past three league games. They gave high-flying Southampton a fright before going down 5-3 last Saturday and beat Sunderland at home in midweek. They are worth a wager against play-off contenders Hull. Lowly Salford, of League Two, will fancy themselves against promotion-seeking Barrow, who have gone right off the boil. I've a hunch that Aberdeen, now managed by wily veteran Neil Warnock until the end of the season, will come out on top against Hibernian in their Scottish Premiership clash.
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