There is another big day in Sky Bet League 1 on Saturday afternoon with the entire division in action for the penultimate time before Christmas and the chaotic schedule that goes with it over the festive period.
Things are getting interesting at the top of the table now and with teams changing managers in panic season at the bottom of the pile there is added intrigue to the situation down there too. That should all play out and more on Saturday.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated)
Doncaster Rovers v Scunthorpe United
Barnsley v Portsmouth
Bradford City v Walsall
Charlton Athletic v AFC Wimbledon
Coventry City v Luton Town
Fleetwood Town v Burton Albion
Gillingham v Wycombe Wanderers
Oxford United v Blackpool
Rochdale v Plymouth Argyle
Shrewsbury Town v Peterborough United
Southend United v Accrington Stanley
Sunderland v Bristol Rovers
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Big Matches
There is no doubt which match is the big one of the afternoon. It comes from Oakwell where the leaders Portsmouth look to put their midweek defeat behind them when they take on Barnsley who need a win. Luton Town will be looking to take advantage of any slip ups from Pompey when they head to the Ricoh Arena to face Coventry City while Sunderland in third go up against Bristol Rovers who begin life without Darrell Clarke with a long trip and a tough encounter.
Best of the Rest
Peterborough will look to maintain their impressive away form when they make the trip to the New Meadow to face Shrewsbury Town while at the other end of the table Bradford City host Walsall needing a win while AFC Wimbledon face a London derby against Charlton Athletic at The Valley. The early kick off sees Doncaster Rovers taking on Scunthorpe United with the other match of interest seeing Blackpool heading to the Kassam Stadium to face Oxford United.
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Betting
I like three form sides on Saturday afternoon with the first one being Charlton Athletic who look a huge price to see off AFC Wimbledon. Wimbledon might have changed their manager but I think it might be a few weeks before Wally Downes gets a tune out of his new side. Charlton should be buzzing after beating Portsmouth in midweek and shouldn’t need too much to see off a Wimbledon side who have been poor all season but especially away from Kingsmeadow. The Addicks are in great form right now and I see no reason why that won’t continue on Saturday.
Another team who are flying at the minute are my own team Luton Town and I’m in no hurry to desert them either. They go to a Coventry City side who struggle for goals with only sides in the bottom four having bagged less than them this term. Coventry have really hit the skids in recent times and their heartbreaking defeat at Walsall last week summed up their recent run. Luton are absolutely flying at the minute. No player is playing badly and with the likes of Alan Sheehan, Danny Hylton, Dan Potts and Jorge Grant all on the bench, Nathan Jones is laced with options if he needs to use them. Luton drew 2-2 here last year. I expect a bigger return this time around.
Sunderland are another team who are ticking along nicely and I think they will have too much for a Bristol Rovers side who have continually disappointed this season. Darrell Clarke’s sacking has been coming for a while but it will need a big reaction to get anything at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland know how big Christmas is to their promotion chances and with Portsmouth away next week they can’t afford to slip up here. I don’t think they will. I’m content they will take the points in this one.
Tips
WON – Back Charlton Athletic (-0.25AH) to beat AFC Wimbledon for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfred
Back them here:
WON – Back Luton Town (-0.25AH) to beat Coventry City for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
Back them here:
WON – Back Sunderland to beat Bristol Rovers for a 4/10 stake at 1.70 with Boylesports
Back them here:
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