National League Tips | Sutton v Guiseley | 1st October 2016

NON-LEAGUE nut Callum Jones (@Goaldust) returns with his weekend NAP from the National Leagues.

Sutton v Guiseley | Saturday 15.00

We’re exactly a quarter of the way into the 2016/17 National League season now and things are starting to take shape quite nicely.

There aren’t any huge surprises when looking at the league table, with perhaps the exception of Barrow, who find themselves wedged in-between Macclesfield and Tranmere in the top-five.

We’ve had our usual topsy turvy start and there have been some real belters so far, but I’m expecting one of the worst games of the season on Saturday in Surrey.

Sutton United have fared quite well in their debut NL season, as they currently sit a comfy 13th in the league with 16 points. Much of that early success has come in their own back yard, and they’re expected to add a fifth home league win to their belt against rock-bottom Guiseley.

The West Yorkshire side were heavily fancied to fall straight back out of the division this season, and they’ve not done much to alter anyone’s opinion. Without a single win in 12 league games, it’s already looking bleak for the Nethermoor side.

They appointed Adam Lockwood as full-time boss last week to try and steady the ship, and made a very shrewd move in naming Dave Penney as his assistant.

Penney has had success in the fifth tier before, winning the division twice as a player with Darlington and Doncaster. This will surely help the inexperienced new manager.

Having said that, it’s hardly a headline appointment, and it’s going to be mighty hard for the Lions to turn things around. I’m expecting a bit of a snorefest on Saturday, and I’ll quickly explain why:

Four of Sutton’s six home games this season have featured less than three goals.
Sutton have won all four of those games ‘to nil’. United have only scored 15 goals in 12 National League games.
Both teams have scored in only four of those 12 fixtures.
We’ve seen a grand total of 10 goals in Guiseley’s last six league games.
The Yorkshire side have scored only one goal in their last three.

So, with all that in mind, you’d expect the odds to be a little skinny about the unders, but you can grab 1/1 at Marathon about Under 2.5 goals, which I feel is a fabulous price.

Sutton have also shown some real guile on their own patch, demonstrated with recent triumphs over Dagenham and Tranmere, so I’ll take a punt on them to win and Under 2.5 Goals at a fairly hefty 14/5 (Stan James) as well.