We’ve just four weeks of the Skybet League 2 season left and the runners and riders all take to the course on Grand National day to attempt to climb another fence in what is a massive steeplechase of a season.
The fixtures for Saturday are as follows:
Barnet v Leyton Orient
Carlisle v Mansfield
Crawley v Oxford Utd
Dag & Red v Portsmouth
Luton v Accrington
Morecambe v Hartlepool
Newport v Cambridge
Northampton v Bristol Rovers
Notts County v Stevenage
Plymouth v Wimbledon
Yeovil v Exeter
York v Wycombe
Game of the Day
It is a massive day for Northampton and their fans. After a treacherous season of financial concerns they know if they beat Bristol Rovers they are back in League One and can enjoy the run in pretty safe in the knowledge that they will soon wrap up the title too. In fact were they to win and Oxford not win the Cobblers would be crowned champions on Saturday too.
Bristol Rovers won’t play the role of guests who enjoy the party though. They have a big task of their own at hand. The race for the final two promotion spots has really heated up and they need to keep on winning to keep the chasing pack at bay so this is a huge game in the context of the season.
Other important matches
Oxford will look to push the title picture another few days closer to the end of the season when they take on Crawley in Sussex. Oxford will need to have gotten over their Wembley defeat pretty quickly and while they should win you have to respect Crawley’s home form enough to swerve the Us at odds on.
Dagenham & Redbridge host Portsmouth in a big game for both teams. The Daggers caught sight of the light at the end of the tunnel with a win in midweek and another here could make things interesting but Portsmouth are another side with it all to play for. They are chasing the playoffs and won’t roll over. This is another no bet match.
Wycombe head to York in the final playoff position but you would be a liar if you was to call their form anything better than patchy. That said it is still better than York’s, who after four years back in the Football League look to be saying goodbye to their status rather tamely. If Wycombe were convincing I’d take them but they’re not so I won’t!
Accrington are pushing Bristol Rovers hard for automatic promotion and can’t afford a slip up to Luton. We’ve covered this match from a betting point of view in this week’s newsletter.
Plymouth host AFC Wimbledon in another massive match for both sides. Plymouth are level on points with third placed Bristol Rovers while AFC Wimbledon are two points off seventh and starting to find some form again. Both sides simply have to win to keep up here but that only makes it another match I can’t really bet on.
Bets
I am going with three bets on this card as well as the one recommended in the newsletter. The first is on a Barnet side who, although have nothing to play for, should be able to get up for a London derby against an extremely inconsistent Leyton Orient.
I’ve seen nothing from Leyton Orient all season to suggest they should be the skinny price that they are in this match and I’m certainly not going against Barnet at home. We know how Barnet will play. They will bombard the penalty box with high balls be it from free kicks, corners, open play or long throws and I’m not convinced Orient have the defensive solidity to cope with that.
Amazingly you can get 1.80 on Barnet with a 0.75 Asian line in their favour and that line and the price is just too big.
I’ve mentioned regularly throughout these previews that I don’t rate Mansfield and they look done for the season with manager Adam Murray talking about playing youngsters from the youth team.
They head to a Carlisle side who had a good win in midweek and who are threatening to gatecrash the playoffs. Carlisle have been pretty strong at home this season and against a potentially experimental Mansfield side, who are awful on the road at the minute, I see them having no problems in this one.
Hartlepool were the side Carlisle beat in midweek but I can’t be having them as such underdogs at Morecambe who had an even worse defeat on Tuesday night when they went to Dagenham and lost.
That was a defeat which suggests the Morecambe players are on the beach but that isn’t the case for Hartlepool who have a new manager and who is urging his players to finish the season as strongly as is possible.
At the very best Hartlepool should be level in the odds with Morecambe here. To be able to get them on a +0.25 line is almost an insult to them but I’m more than happy to oblige and take them to get back to getting results on Saturday.
Tips
WON – Back Barnet (+0.75AH) to beat Leyton Orient for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Titanbet
Back them here:
Back Carlisle (-0.25AH) to beat Mansfield for a 6/10 stake at 1.88 with Bet365
WON – Back Hartlepool (+0.25AH) to beat Morecambe for a 5/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
Back them both here:
