PUNTERS – are you listening to Gavin Horsfall (@GHorsfall)? He bagged 4/1 and 9/4 winners to make it another winning weekend for the Anytime Notebook last weekend and whisper it quietly, he thinks he may found some more…
Crawley v Yeovil | Saturday 15.00
Many people put Crawley up for relegation and they had an awful August – four defeats and nine goals conceded. But they've changed things around a bit and despite conceding four goals against Rochdale recently, they've now kept clean sheets in three of their last five. Plus, they were competitive in that 2-0 defeat to Preston too so positive-ish signs for John Gregory.
Yeovil arrive confident having beaten Peterborough (keeping a clean sheet in the process) but lets not pretend that's all Gary Johnson's questions answered. It was their first shutout of the season and means the hosts should get a few chances. If Izale McCleod can't score here, then John Gregory's got problems.
The Crawley boss has suggested he's been working on posing more of an attacking threat in training, which to me sounds like set-pieces. So Crawley centre-half Joe Walsh (11/1 Bet365), it's you. He's always been in the Notebook and when the conditions are right (the game and price) he gets used. He's got a great scoring record for a central defender so we'll take him at a nice price.
Bradford v Port Vale | Saturday 15.00
Port Vale head to South Yorkshire and it's a good chance for Rob Page to enhance his prospects for the permanent Vale manager role. Six straight defeats for Micky Adams brought an end to his reign but it's a really good angle – I like it when caretaker managers come in because they're setting their side up to win games, play at a high tempo and produce plenty of attacking football…
That's exactly what Vale did last weekend under Page. They had 15 shots in a 2-1 victory over Barnsley and they'll be encouraged by Bradford's indifferent start which has seen the Bantams fall to three defeats from four at Valley Parade. Bradford also had to contend with a game in midweek and went out of the League Cup to MK Dons, so the profile of the game looks good for the visitors.
Pretty uninspiring but we're going to put up Mark Marshall to score (4/1 BetVictor) for Port Vale. He looks like the type of player who'd flourish in a confident side that's taking the game to their opponents. He hit a wonder goal last weekend (check it out when you can) and he goes off at a nice price too.
Wycombe v Cambridge | Saturday 15.00
Nobody's been talking about Wycombe, have they? Well I did in my pre-season blog and their fast start might look surprising to a lot of people. Not me. They're the real deal and one of my biggest ante-post bets this season was backing the Chairboys for a top-half finish in League Two.
They should have beaten Portsmouth last weekend but missed a few chances and ended up with a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park. Only Coventry have beaten Gareth Ainsworth's team in the past month or two and they've got an excellent chance to continue their fine run of form when Cambridge visit Adams Park this weekend.
The visitors have been fairly indifferent since promotion. They're giving up chances everywhere; scoring plenty and conceding plenty and it leads me to another pretty uninspiring pick but the price is just about right for Peter Murphy (3/1 Betfred). The ex-Accrington man has made a solid start to his Wycombe career with four goals in nine and is bound to see plenty of action on Saturday.
Best Bets
Crawley v Yeovil – Joe Walsh to score anytime (11/1 Bet365)
Bradford v Port Vale – Mark Marshall to score anytime (4/1 BetVictor)
Wycombe v Cambridge – Peter Murphy to score anytime (3/1 Betfred)
