With a number of League 2 sides making it into the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup coupled with the usual weather issues there have been a number of postponed matches which means we get quite a few midweek games at this time of year and there are two of them in the bottom flight on Tuesday night.
They see Luton hosting struggling Yeovil at Kenilworth Road while Portsmouth look to close the gap between them and the top three when they head to the Globe Arena to face mid-table Morecambe.
On the face of it you would think Portsmouth are good things in that match. Morecambe are nothing special and were comfortably seen off by Newport at the weekend, their third straight defeat, but if there is one thing Morecambe can do it is raise their game against the top sides and spoil things for them.
Portsmouth are a much better side away from Fratton Park than they are at it these days which will give encouragement to both their fans and anyone who backs them here but even so they have still drawn no fewer than 11 of their 26 matches this season so you very rarely get paid out on them which has to be a concern.
Another concern would be the juice they used from their tanks in laying it down to Premier League side Bournemouth in the FA Cup at the weekend so all in all I’ll let Portsmouth win if they are good enough to I think.
The other game interests me though and not just because it involves my own team. A draw does nothing for either Luton or Yeovil so I’m expecting quite an entertaining game at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night.
Luton have displayed a clear ambition of wanting to play the right way under Nathan Jones but try as they might they just can’t avoid conceding goals at home. They recently kept a clean sheet against shot-shy Cambridge but in the other four of their last five home games no fewer than 12 goals have been shipped.
That will give Yeovil lots of encouragement, as will their win over AFC Wimbledon over the weekend and they’ll head to Kenilworth Road knowing they’ve already beaten them 3-2 this season.
That match was a strange one. For 30 minutes Luton looked like world beaters and went 2-0 up with ease and then they conceded, the heavens opened and they collapsed to lose 3-2. While Jones has tried to make Luton tighter at the back Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Notts County shows there is still work to do there.
Luton did score twice at Mansfield recently though and missed a sack of chances on Saturday so goals are slowly starting to come and given that the draw suits neither I fancy we’ll get a few goals in this match. At even money I like over 2.5 goals in this one.
Back Luton vs Yeovil – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Stan James
