Wednesday 3 April 2024

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of April 6-7

 Ten draws: Fulham v Newcastle, Blackburn v Southampton, Cardiff v Hull, Huddersfield v Millwall, Stoke v West Brom, Charlton v Barnsley, Notts County v Harrogate, Tranmere v Walsall, St Mirren v Hearts, Dunfermline v Partick.

Best draws: Fulham v Newcastle, Blackburn v Southampton, Huddersfield v Millwall, Charlton v Barnsley, Notts County v Harrogate.

Weekend's best football bets: Six aways: Liverpool, Bristol City, Oxford, Lincoln, Aberdeen, Peterhead.

Weekend's best football bets: Ten homes: Aston Villa, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers, Watford, Exeter, Northampton, Portsmouth, Barrow, Rangers.

Pick of the draws: Fulham, beaten 3-1 at Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle, held to a 1-1 home draw by Everton, had disappointing Premier League results in midweek and inconsistency has been their undoing. Blackburn have played better than recent Championship results suggest and thrashing Sunderland 5-1 away on Easter Monday will make them believe they can frustrate Southampton, whose hopes of automatic promotion are fading. Lowly Millwall will want to make up for the embarrassment of losing 2-1  at relegation-doomed Rotherham last Monday and they visit Huddersfield, who are below them and in the drop zone. Charlton have been much harder to beat in League One lately and I fancy they will deny Barnsley, who look as though they will have to settle for the play-offs. Few teams relish facing mid-table Harrogate in League Two. They routed Gillingham 5-1 at home last Monday and have won more away games than they have lost. Notts County, their hosts, will be aware of the danger.

Away days: Liverpool let Manchester United off the hook when they lost their FA Cup quarter-final last month and I cannot see the favourites for the title making the same mistake at Old Trafford on Sunday. I think Bristol City, winners of their past two Championship fixtures, will take advantage of the unrest at Sunderland, who suffered a heavy home defeat last Monday. Oxford's 4-0 win over Fleetwood may have revived their League One season and I believe they'll carry on the good work at Burton. Lincoln's transformation in the same division has been remarkable and the high-flyers go to crisis-club Reading with confidence. In the Scottish Premiership, Aberdeen should prevail at rock bottom Livingston while Peterhead, second in Scottish Two, will rate their chances at league newcomers Bonnyrigg Rose. 

Homes sweet homes: Watford have perked up in the Championship under interim manager Tom Cleverley and are worth backing against Preston, whose play-off hopes are fading. Exeter, mid-table in League One, may be worth a punt against Stevenage, who are faltering and drawing too often to feel confident about promotion. In Scotland's big match of the weekend on Sunday, I'm going for second-placed Rangers to topple leaders Celtic and thus overtake them in the table.

Pools info: For the second week running, three of my five best draws were correct last weekend: Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace, Hearts v Kilmarnock and Dumbarton v Stenhousemuir. 

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