The final set of matches in League 2 for 2017 take place on Saturday and while some of them need to beat the weather we should be set for an enjoyable end to the calendar year with the race for third place and the battle to avoid the drop really hotting up now.
There was one match on Friday night which means we have 11 matches to enjoy over the course of the afternoon on Saturday.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows:
Cambridge United v Crewe Alexandra
Carlisle United v Coventry City
Cheltenham Town v Newport County
Chesterfield v Colchester United
Crawley Town v Stevenage
Exeter City v Barnet
Grimsby Town v Accrington Stanley
Lincoln City v Forest Green Rovers
Port Vale v Luton Town
Swindon Town v Notts County
Wycombe Wanderers v Mansfield Town
Big Matches
The top two are both away to sides who were playing League 1 football last season. Luton go to improving Port Vale while Notts County head to a Swindon side still reeling from the battering they took from Luton on Boxing Day. Lincoln are up to third in the table now and they are at home to Forest Green. Wycombe host Mansfield in a clash between two sides who have their eyes on promotion this season.
Best of the Rest
Exeter in sixth will be hosting Barnet if their pitch has dried out sufficiently while Colchester in fifth go to lowly Chesterfield. Coventry occupy the final play-off spot and they make the trip to Carlisle for what looks like a tasty contest. Accrington will be looking to stop their rot when they go to Grimsby.
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Betting
I’m going with three bets in these matches and they include the top two. Squads are really going to be tested in this round of matches and that should play into the hands of the better sides.
Luton are the best team in the division and they can make 11 changes and still be competitive. They won’t make that many but it is a nice luxury for Nathan Jones to have. They go to Port Vale who don’t have those resources. To be fair to Vale they have improved since Neil Aspin came in but even then every time one of the big boys have gone there the visitors have left with a tidy win and that is what I expect Luton to do here. Luton are flying and I’m not sure a jaded Port Vale will stop that.
One of the teams who have felt the full force of the Luton juggernaut in recent times is Swindon and things might not get much better for them on Saturday when they host Notts County. I was amazed how quickly Swindon folded on Boxing Day and you could tell there was a nervousness about them at home. Notts County relish going to the bigger grounds and taking on the better sides and I think they can beat Swindon but certainly avoid defeat.
Accrington are a side who desperately need January to come so that they can get reinforcements but it may not help them when they head to Grimsby who are in a decent run of form right now. The Mariners might not have won in their last three matches but they have faced Luton, Notts County and Mansfield in that time and avoided defeat in two of them. Prior to that they were ticking along nicely so they should be buoyant enough to take care of a struggling Accrington.
Tips
Back Luton to beat Port Vale for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Notts County (0AH) to beat Swindon for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back Grimsby (0AH) to beat Accrington for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Betfred
Back them here:
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