The second half of the League 2 season gets underway on Monday when the first set of matches in 2017 are played out. Over the course of the afternoon all 24 sides will be in action in what looks another important day in the division.
Monday’s fixtures are as follows:
Accrington Stanley v Hartlepool United
Barnet v Plymouth Argyle
Blackpool v Mansfield Town
Cambridge United v Notts County
Carlisle United v Grimsby Town
Colchester United v Cheltenham Town
Crawley Town v Yeovil Town
Doncaster Rovers v Stevenage
Exeter City v Leyton Orient
Morecambe v Crewe Alexandra
Portsmouth v Luton Town
Wycombe Wanderers v Newport County
Big Matches
There is no doubt which is the biggest match in the division on Monday. It is at a sold out Fratton Park where arguably the two biggest sides in the league meet as Portsmouth host Luton. Neither side can afford to lose if they want to keep the top three in their sights.
Leaders Plymouth go to a dangerous Barnet side who have already beaten them this season while second placed Carlisle host Grimsby. Doncaster face Stevenage who are in insane form on the road at the minute so that is a real banana skin.
Best of the Rest
Wycombe are flying at the minute and they will be expected to beat bottom of the table Newport while Cambridge in seventh play host to Notts County. Colchester are another home side who are odds on for their clash with Cheltenham and elsewhere Exeter host Leyton Orient.
Betting
There are a few I would seriously consider were this a normal round of matches but it isn’t. It comes 48hrs after the last one and is the third match in a hectic Christmas schedule so in the end I’m only going to go with one. Wycombe appealed but Newport have found a couple of players which could make them fresher. Colchester were another I fancied but Cheltenham played Friday night which I think is an advantage here.
I really do think freshness is the thing we need to look for here so we’re looking for sides with a big squad who can rotate without losing much or sides who played on Friday night and it is one of the former I like here. Cambridge have enough players that they can change any jaded legs and not hamper the side too much and I like them here.
Notts County are going nowhere at the minute and even a crumb of positivity when they went 2-1 up on Carlisle on Saturday was wiped out when the Cumbrians came back to win 3-2. That was their eighth successive defeat and with Cambridge likely to be the fresher of the two sides here and going into the match with 16pts from their last 18 available I’m liking the hosts in this one.
Tips
WON – Back Cambridge to beat Notts County for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Skybet
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