Football – England – Blue Square Premier
Tuesday 22nd January 2013 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Cambridge United, sitting just above mid-table, take on bottom of the Blue Square Premier side Ebbsfleet United on Tuesday night as they look to bounce back straight away from their surprise 1-3 home defeat to Nuneaton Town last week.
A home defeat to BSP strugglers Nuneaton Town was definitely not in Cambridge United’s script as they were preparing to edge closer to the play-off pack, but Nuneaton have improved quite significantly in recent weeks and Cambridge will need to wait until Tuesday to set the record straight.
Cambridge’s home record stands at 7-2-5 26/20 and they’ve lost just once in their last six matches on home turf with wins over Macclesfield, Gateshead, Braintree Town and Stockport County. It’s worth pointing out also that The U’s have recorded five wins from the last seven meetings with Ebbsfleet United – the other two were draws away from home at Ebbsfleet, so Cambridge United hold a good record over their visitors tonight.
Ebbsfleet United now sit bottom of the pile following a miserable run of form which has seen them winless in their last seven league matches and they’ve taken just 3 points from a possible 21 on offer and are two points behind nearest rivals Barrow and some seven points from a safety position.
Recent draws with Grimsby Town, Dartford and Lincoln City have not been enough to stave off being placed bottom of the league with defeats against Cambridge United (2-4 at home back in early December), 1-4 and 1-3 away at Mansfield Town and Dartford respectively along with a 0-1 loss at Woking a couple of weeks ago before the bad weather set in.
Ebbsfleet travel to Cambridge in an attempt to halt a run of three straight defeats but they face a tall order against a Cambridge side who are usually strong at home and will be looking to set the record straight in front of their home crowd. Ebbsfleet’s three away wins have come at Nuneaton Town, Tamworth and Macclesfield but surely Cambridge presents a stiffer test tonight? I’ll back the hosts again as lightning surely can’t strike twice (but it may well snow!) with a comfortable 2-0 home win and thereby cover the -1 handicap.
Pick; Cambridge United AH-1 @ 2.11 Pinnacle – if Cambridge win by 1 goal we get our stake refunded
