Charlton Athletic V Millwall – Saturday 19th December, 15:00 GMT
Matt’s Tip: Charlton Athletic to beat Millwall – 1.83 Bet365
Two sides who were fancied to be contesting the promotion positions, or thereabouts, clash at the Valley this Saturday. It’s Charlton, though, who have the ascendency after a run of four successive wins in the league, and who also boast a six match unbeaten run. Millwall, meanwhile have been performing in patches and, after beating Walsall in their last outing, perhaps another below par display is too come from Kenny Jackett.
Charlton Athletic’s fall from grace has been staggering but they’ve quickly adjusted to life in League One and look to be one of the main contenders for a top two finish, what would be automatic promotion back into The Championship. The basis for their success has been their form at home, and The Addicks have yet to be defeated at The Valley all season, with an incredibly strong record of 8-2-0 at home this season. Huddersfield (5th) MK Dons (7th) and Bristol Rovers (6th) are just some of the more high profile names in the league that have not only failed to scupper Charlton’s unbeaten home run but have also succumbed to defeat against the second best team in the league, according to the league standings.
When playing at The Valley, Charlton tend to spend most of the game on the front foot and this soundly reflects in their impressive goalscoring form. In ten home fixtures thus far, Charlton have found the opposing net on twenty-two occasions, scoring over two goals a game on average, and only one team this season has kept Charlton at bay for the full 90 minutes and that was Oldham Athletic in a 0-0 draw, a surprise result on the day.
The reason behind their attacking success has been the quality they posses in the final third. Deon Burton (10 Goals) and Akpo Sodje (5 Goals) have led the line superbly for Charlton in the league, while their impressive forward partnership has been complimented by some free-scoring midfielders, with Nickey Bailey, the club captain, chipping in with six goals, and Lloyd Sam aiding the cause with four goals. So the Charlton manager, Phil Parkinson, has a wide array of attacking talent at his disposal. and he has certainly got the best out of them this season.
Millwall, on the other hand, are struggling for consistent runs of form. They may have notched up eight wins from twenty-one outings but only once have they gone on a winning run of two or more wins, a three match winning streak in October. However, they have since failed to strike up another hot streak and have won just twice since, with both of those successes coming at The New Den, home of Millwall.
At home, Millwall are a match for any side and they’ve proven this already by beating the likes of Colchester Utd (4th), Huddersfield (5th), MK Dons (7th) and even the league leaders, Leeds United. However, away from home has been a completely different story and although their impressive form at home may look outstandingly good (8-3-1), their away form is a stark contrast (1-5-4), with the Lions only away victory this season coming back in October, a 4-0 romp at Stockport County, a team who are not only struggling at the foot of the table (6 points off safety) but were also knocked out of the FA Cup in midweek by League Two side, Torquay United. So that win has done nothing to hide over their quite apparent away cracks.
Millwall have been found wanting on just about every occasion on the road, and against far easier opponent than a ruthless Charlton. They’ve now gone three away matches without a win; two draws with Brentford (2-2) and Exeter City (1-1) who are hardly formidable sides, and a defeat at Hartlepool (3-0). Kenny Jacketts has struggled to find the right attacking formula when taking Millwall on their travels and their nine away goals scored thus far is pretty lousy, especially when you take into consideration that Millwall have failed to score in half of their away fixtures thus far, and did fail to find the net at Hartlepool in their previous away outing in the league.
Charlton are a handsome price to comply on Saturday against what is a tricky Millwall side, but only when at The New Den. The Addicks shouldn’t come across too many problems when dispatching Millwall on Saturday as they’ve been close to unstoppable at home since the start of the new season. Unbeaten in ten at The Valley and strikers bang in form, with even midfielders chipping in with their contribution. There are far too many positive for Charlton and too many niggling negative for Millwall to oppose the home side on Saturday and, with Leeds United facing a tricky home fixture with Southampton at the same time, a win for Charlton could lift them back to the summit of League One.
Alternatives:
Deon Burton FGS – 5/1 Ladbrokes
Nickey Bailey FGS – 8/1 Ladbrokes
Llyod Sam Anytime Goalscorer – 9/2 SkyBet
Over 2.5 Goals – 1.91 Boylesports
