NON-LEAGUE expert Paul Maddison (@LouthBigDog) shares his favourite fancies from Saturday's action.
Dagenham & Redbridge v Salford City | Saturday 1st September 2018, 15:00
Things could be looking up for Dagenham & Redbridge after it was announced that the club are in advanced talks with an American consortium regarding investment into the club.
The Daggers’ problems on the pitch look to continue for a while yet though. Last season’s squad has been decimated, mainly youngsters and loan signings have been brought in as replacements, and they've struggled to adjust to life in the National League.
However, one of those loanees – Harry Donovan from Millwall – was recalled in midweek and Saturday’s hosts are yet to win a game this term, picking up one point from their opening seven matches – and that came against 10-man Maidenhead.
The Essex based club haven't had a particularly tough start to the season either. They have conceded two goals in each of their last six games, including games against Barnet and Aldershot who have the joint-worst attacks in the league thus far.
After a slow start to the season, Salford are starting to pick up form with three wins and a draw in their last four games. Adam Rooney is settling into life in the National League well, netting six goals in his last six games.
The Ammies are joint-leading scorers in the league and with the quality of their attacking players, I would expect them to score plenty more.
There are a couple of angles I like here. I've already highlighted the Daggers weakness defensively and that's something I expect Salford to exploit – you can get 10/11 with SkyBet on Salford to Over 1.5 Goals, and that looks a great price, to me.
Despite their problems at the back, Dagenham have managed to score in all but one of their games, so I fancy them to get on the scoresheet again here. Salford have conceded in all seven of their games and collectively, 13 of their 14 matches have seen Both Teams To Score.
So I'm backing Salford to win and BTTS at 56/19 with 888.
Harrogate v Eastleigh | Saturday 1st September 2018, 15:00
Harrogate have made a solid start to the season after gaining promotion from the National League North, via the play-offs, as they remain unbeaten after winning three and drawing four of their opening seven matches.
Harrogate's home form played a crucial part in last season’s promotion and will be vital to them having a good season this time out. The Yorkshire based club have won an impressive 17 out of their last 21 on home soil, scoring 2+ goals in all but one of those fixtures.
Last season the hosts racked up an average of 2.33 points per-game at Wetherby Road, notching an impressive 60 goals in those 21 matches. There were 10 teams in that league that didn't manage to score as many goals in all 42 of their games!
Eastleigh have had a mixed start to the season, winning three but losing four of their opening seven matches. Last time out they suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Ebbsfleet, a game that saw Alex Wynter sent off for two first half bookings, so the defender will be suspended here.
I'm backing Harrogate to continue their impressive home form and supporting the hosts at evens with Marathon.
Best Bets
Dagenham & Redbridge v Salford City – Salford City to score Over 1.5 Goals (10/11 SkyBet)
Dagenham & Redbridge v Salford City – Salford City to win and Both Teams To Score (56/19 888)
Harrogate v Eastleigh – Harrogate to win (1/1 Marathon)
