The second round of matches in Skybet League 2 takes place on Saturday with all 24 sides in action as the fight for lofty positions early on in the league table gets the competitive juices flowing.
Each side has already played two matches in a week and with another midweek round of matches to come there could be some tired sides come the end of these upcoming round of fixtures so we need to deal with a slight bit of caution.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows:
Barnet v Accrington
Carlisle v Plymouth
Colchester v Cambridge
Crewe v Portsmouth
Doncaster v Crawley
Exeter v Hartlepool
Leyton Orient v Newport
Luton v Yeovil
Mansfield v Cheltenham
Morecambe v Blackpool
Notts County v Stevenage
Wycombe v Grimsby
This will be the first home league game of the season for all the sides hosting matches here which should see those sides raising their game.
Big Matches
Two matches stand out as pretty big on this card. They are the ones between Crewe and Portsmouth which sees a relegated side hosting the pre-season favourites and then Morecambe vs Blackpool which is a derby which would probably only have been played before as a pre-season friendly. It is anything but that now.
Another key match could be the Carlisle vs Plymouth match which sees the team touted as dark horses by many this season taking on last year’s beaten playoff finalists as two of the bigger sides in the division do battle up in Cumbria.
Best of the Rest
Luton had a good win last week at Plymouth and again in midweek when they took care of Aston Villa in front of the TV cameras. They face a Yeovil side who have also won both their matches this season. Exeter and Hartlepool are two of the better footballing sides in the division so that should be entertaining if nothing else.
Colchester and Cambridge meet in an Anglian derby which could shape the seasons of both sides while fancied sides Leyton Orient and Doncaster entertain their fans in the league for the first time this season against Newport and Crawley respectively.
Betting
There is a case to be made for taking Luton on but as a Luton fan I’m not going to make it too clearly. The obvious facts are their home form last season was awful and they ran themselves into the ground on Wednesday night while Yeovil played on Tuesday and had longer to recover. Even so it is a little early for me to take Luton on.
Instead the only betting interest I have in the division on Saturday comes in the big game up at Carlisle where I like the home side. Carlisle saw off Port Vale here in midweek which is a nice little confidence boost if they needed one. They might not have needed one because the draw they picked up at Portsmouth with 10 men last week was no bad result.
I saw Plymouth with my own eyes last week and they looked like a side which will need a few weeks to gel and that plays right into the hands of the home side here. These two will probably be there or thereabouts come the end of the season but the here and now certainly favours Carlisle and it is them who will carry my money against a Plymouth side who you feel are already under a little pressure to get up and running.
Skybet League 2 – Tips
WON – Back Carlisle (-0.25AH) to beat Plymouth for a 4/10 stake at 1.99 with 188bet
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