The busy Christmas period continues in League 2 on Monday with 22 clubs back in action weather permitting. After a Boxing Day set of matches in tough conditions it is going to be a tough ask for some sides to back up that effort in these games.
Monday’s fixtures are as follows:
Bristol Rovers v Leyton Orient
Cambridge v Barnet
Exeter v Wimbledon
Mansfield v York
Newport v Plymouth
Northampton v Accrington
Notts County v Morecambe
Portsmouth v Luton
Stevenage v Dag & Red
Wycombe v Crawley
Yeovil v Oxford Utd
Like with the Premier League I don’t think this is a fixture list to go deep on given the short turnaround and I’m certainly going nowhere near nothing that is odds on as I’m expecting a few surprise results especially in matches where clubs didn’t play on Boxing Day.
I’m going with two bets on this Monday card. The first is on a Cambridge side who are in great form since changing their manager. They have won four of their last five matches and are starting to look like the side who spent big in the summer.
They host a Barnet side who aren’t great on the road. They failed to win at Yeovil recently and were well beaten at Notts County and Luton in the last month or two so they’re not the same side when they leave London and that has to be a concern for them here.
Cambridge eased past Dagenham on Boxing Day and they can follow that up with a win here. Given the short turnaround I’ll take all the draw cover I can get but the price on the Us is still perfectly acceptable even on the -0.25 Asian line.
The other bet I’m taking is on Luton. Luton aren’t a great side right now but I think their match at Portsmouth sets up nicely for them. They aren’t expected to win, in fact you can get them on a +1 line at a respectable price, so they can sit deep and look to exploit gaps on the counter attack much like they did at Exeter nine days ago.
Portsmouth haven’t been great at home this season and had to play over an hour with ten men on Boxing Day so fatigue could be a real issue for them. I remember this fixture at Kenilworth Road on the same day last season and the roles were reversed there.
Luton had a heavy game against Wycombe in tough conditions on Boxing Day and had nothing left when it came to the next game and Portsmouth could be similar. That could give Luton the chance to take something from the game even if it isn’t the win or at the very worst only go down by the odd goal.
Back Cambridge (-0.25AH) to beat Barnet for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with BetVictor
Back Luton (+1AH) to beat Portsmouth for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
