DONCASTER ROVERS v LEICESTER CITY
nPower Championship
Saturday 30th April 2011 – Kickoff 3pm
Doncaster Rovers entertain Leicester City in their final home match of the season and while they seem to be safe from relegation, they will certainly want to make sure of it in front of their home fans as Sheffield United who are six points behind them can still mathematically wriggle out of their current relegation plight.
Doncaster have had a poor season by their standards and are on a ten match sequence without a win – in fact their last win was at Derby County winning 3-1 back in early March. This has kind of coincided with the loss of leading scorer Billy Sharp (15 goals) to injury, but on the bright side, Jason Euell bagged a brace at Barnsley in the 2-2 draw on Monday and looks set to retain his place.
Donny’s home record currently stands at 7-8-7 25/30 and have struggled to put together any sort of winning run at home all season. Up front they also have James Hayter (9 goals) while James Coppinger (7 goals, 10 assists) has been a consistent performer again along with John Oster (8 assists).
Rovers will also be keen to avenge their 1-5 drubbing earlier in the season at the Walkers Stadium last December.
Leicester City travel up north with a glimmer of hope for a play-off place although this looks unlikely as Nottingham Forest are six points ahead and +9 in goal difference over The Foxes.
However, while there’s still hope there’s a chance and Forest et al will be feeling the pressure make no mistake. Leicester will need to improve their away form in this one though as they’ve slumped to three away matches without a win, drawing 3-3 at Middlesbrough and suffering losses at Reading 1-3 and Nottingham Forest 2-3 in the east midlands derby (killer blow x 2!)
The Foxes away record stands at 6-3-13 27/43 and are only behind Crystal Palace (16) and Sheffield United & Scnthorpe United (both with 14) in terms of away losses. They’ve also been shipping way too many goals at the back so watch out for Sven’s cheque book in the summer months with central defenders and defensive midfielders.
Leicester City though are always good for a goal or two so I’m backing them again to notch at the Keepmoat in this fixture.
The Verdict: Doncaster need to win to ensure their Championship safety while Leicester have a slight sniff of a play-off place. Hold onto your hats I reckon there’ll be a few goals in this one! Doncaster to win 3-2!
Main Pick: Over 2.5 @ 1.84 with Pinnacle
