Saturday sees the beginning of another huge week in League Two as three more matches take place in the division over the next eight days in a run which will continue to sort the table out.
All 24 sides are in action on Saturday and here are the fixtures:
Wimbledon v Morecambe
Barnet v York
Cambridge v Northampton
Carlisle v Exeter
Crawley v Luton
Dag & Red v Hartlepool
Leyton Orient v Oxford Utd
Mansfield v Bristol Rovers
Newport v Portsmouth
Notts County v Yeovil
Plymouth v Accrington
Stevenage v Wycombe
When I look at this fixture list I find myself liking a number of away sides. I’ve a feeling this is a round where there could be a surprising result and if I was brave enough I would probably back it to come at Plymouth but thankfully there are other bets on the card which means I don’t need to take that risk.
In terms of home sides I nearly backed Barnet but I’m not yet comfortable at backing them when they are favourites even though I thought little of York last week. Wimbledon are celebrating a nice landmark but Morecambe are a side I doubt I’ll ever get a feel for while Notts County are just a shade too short against Yeovil.
Both Dagenham vs Hartlepool and Mansfield vs Bristol Rovers could go either way so I’m not going to get involved in them but there are three I will back in this fixture list.
The first one comes in Cambridge where the home side have to be taken on right now. They are ravaged by injuries and their manager went off on one last week and that is never a good combination.
You could say there is a risk attached to backing Northampton given their off field woes but it is amazing how many times that galvanises a club into results on the pitch and the Cobblers are without a defeat in their last six in the league. Given that Cambridge have massive issues with personnel defensively I’ll take the visitors here.
I’m also going to take the visitors at Brisbane Road too as Oxford head to a Leyton Orient side flattered by their start to the season. Oxford have won their last four in all competitions and have the likes of Callum O’Dowda and Danny Hylton back for this match too.
Since they won their opening five matches of the season Leyton Orient have only won one of their last seven matches and that came against a Notts County side who mysteriously made a number of changes to their side for seemingly no apparent reason. Orient lost to Crawley last week which isn’t a good form guide so I’m keen to take them on.
Admittedly Jay Simpson is in decent form for Orient but Oxford have a number of players in good nick themselves particularly Kemar Roofe and I like their chances in this one.
Finally I’m going to take on Stevenage again this week. I’m never a big fan of taking Wycombe but when I do I’m much happier to take them on the road than at home and I will side with them here.
Stevenage haven’t really got going yet under Teddy Sheringham. They did well to steal a point from Exeter late on last weekend but this looks a perfect sort of game for Gareth Ainsworth and his men. He loves nothing more than getting one over the big boys and while Stevenage as a club might not be big their manager’s name certainly is.
Wycombe are very hard to break down on the road and I don’t see that changing here so I’m going to chance that they pick up another positive result in what is already becoming another great season so soon after last year’s campaign.
Back Northampton (-0.25AH) to beat Cambridge for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Stan James
Back Oxford (+0.25AH) to beat Leyton Orient for a 4/10 stake at 1.88 with BetVictor
Back Wycombe (-0.25AH) to beat Stevenage for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
Blog football YTD: -24.1pts
