After a break for the FA Cup last week Skybet League Two returns this week with sides looking to kick on as Christmas starts to approach in the distance.
With two matches put back to Sunday for television purposes and two postponed because of international call ups we’re left with eight games on Saturday. There are as follows:
Accrington v Newport
Bristol Rovers v Carlisle
Exeter v Crawley
Luton v Barnet
Northampton v Mansfield
Oxford Utd v Cambridge
Yeovil v Stevenage
York v Plymouth
There are a couple of matches here where I was hoping to be tempted in by price but sadly I’ve not got the price I was after. Exeter to beat Crawley and Stevenage to win at Yeovil were the ones that interested me. Both had good wins in the cup last weekend and face weaker opponents but the price is just a little too skinny for my liking.
Carlisle are another side I quite like the look of but having played Plymouth away in the cup last week another humungous journey isn’t ideal so I’ll leave them alone as well. Oxford might well have been a bet but Cambridge have got a new manager so that isn’t ideal either. The Northampton and Accrington games look about right.
That leaves me with two matches to have a bet on. The first sees Luton taking on Barnet for the first time in a while in the Football League. Ironically the last time they met at Kenilworth Road, in their Conference days, the match was played in the most absurd conditions and with heavy rain on the forecast we could get a repeat!
Luton have shown all season that they can score goals. Only once in league or cup have they not scored this season but only three times have they kept a clean sheet so there is every chance we’re going to see goals in this match.
Some sides go to Kenilworth Road scared stiff to play football and play for a draw but Martin Allen has never taken a side there to do that so I suspect Barnet might look to offer something going forward before they get opened up themselves – fight fire with fire so to speak. With all that in mind I think over 2.5 goals is a good thing there.
I’ve seen Plymouth and York in the flesh in the last month and to say they were chalk and cheese would be an understatement and the league table reflects that.
In fairness York have changed their manager since I saw them but there is no immediate turnaround from that. They’ve lost at Accrington in the FA Cup and at Barnsley in the JPT in the last week all of which was preceded by two league defeats so they’re not in the greatest form.
In fairness Plymouth have suffered back to back defeats in the cup too in the last week but their league form is very good and they are particularly good on the road where they are tight defensively and threatening on the counter attack. I don’t think they’ll lose this and there’s enough in the -0.25AH price to tempt me in.
Back Luton vs Barnet – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back Plymouth (-0.25AH) to beat York for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with BetVictor
Blog football YTD: -29.39pts
