The last round of matches in Sky Bet League 1 prior to the break for the first round of the FA Cup takes place on Saturday which means that all of the teams will be highly motivated to get three big points to take into the cup spell with them.
The league table is beginning to take shape at both ends of it now so there will be a battle for the points in both directions over the course of what looks like being another competitive Saturday.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows:
AFC Wimbledon v Shrewsbury Town
Barnsley v Southend United
Blackpool v Bristol Rovers
Bradford City v Portsmouth
Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Coventry City v Accrington Stanley
Gillingham v Fleetwood Town
Plymouth Argyle v Sunderland
Rochdale v Luton Town
Scunthorpe United v Oxford United
Walsall v Burton Albion
Wycombe Wanderers v Peterborough United
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Big Matches
It is bottom of the league against top of it on Saturday afternoon when Bradford City play host to Portsmouth while second placed Peterborough United make the trip across Buckinghamshire to face Wycombe Wanderers. Sunderland complete the top three sides who are away this weekend when they make the ridiculously long trip to Plymouth Argyle. Two of last season’s promoted sides meet at the Ricoh Arena when Coventry play host to the side who won League 2 in Accrington Stanley.
Best of the Rest
Barnsley in fourth in the table play host to Southend United while Luton who are fifth look to make it successive away wins when they make the trip up the M6 to Rochdale. At the other end of the table AFC Wimbledon play host to Shrewsbury Town in a match where both teams are bang under pressure while Oxford United head to Scunthorpe United.
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Betting
I’ll go with three bets across this card. The first is on a Portsmouth team who I fully expect to see off a poor Bradford City side who have slid right down the pan. The Bantams won two of their first four matches this term but they’ve only won once since and having seen AFC Wimbledon with my own eyes last week I can confirm that is no boost to any form line. Portsmouth are unbeaten on the road and have oodles of defensive quality and plenty of options going forward. I think they’ll pile more misery onto Bradford in this one.
Southend United head to Oakwell to face Barnsley with all kinds of injury problems to deal with and as I saw to the cost of my own team Luton a few weeks ago you do not want to go to Barnsley without a full strength side because they are very good on their own patch and just ooze class all over the pitch. To be fair Southend have been in good form on the road this term but they were outclassed at Luton earlier in the season and the same happened to them at Sunderland last week. I think Barnsley will be the third top side to see off Southend with a bit to spare.
Having seen AFC Wimbledon last week I have to fear the worst for them for the upcoming future. They were so poor I could barely believe what I was watching and Shrewsbury Town will never get a better chance to win on the road this term. Wimbledon were clueless up front and although they were physical at the back Luton were in fourth gear throughout and got in behind them a few times. There appeared no quality in the Wimbledon ranks so the creativity that Shrewsbury have can see them run out winners if there is a winner in the match.
Tips
WON – Back Portsmouth to beat Bradford City for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
WON – Back Barnsley to beat Southend United for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back them here:
WON – Back Shrewsbury Town (0AH) to beat AFC Wimbledon for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
Back them here:
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