Football – England – League One
Saturday 20th September 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Former England boss Peter Taylor has had to endure some very mixed performances from his side in recent weeks, but they do have a great chance of posting back-to-back wins this afternoon as they entertain a poor Walsall outfit at Priestfield Stadium.
Taylor will be hoping that The Gills can continue on their momentum after their midweek win over high-flying Peterborough United when they overturned Darren Ferguson’s men 2-1 in what was a a bit of a shock result. That said, Gillingham hold a decent home record of 3-1-0 8/3 under their belts with wins over Yeovil Town 2-0 and Crewe Alexandra 2-0 in addition to The Posh result.
They also held Swindon Town to a point and Gillingham have actually gone unbeaten in their last six matches on home turf in League One, winning four of those.
Striker and leading goalscorer Cody McDonald is in his third spell with the club and he scored 17 goals for them last term – he’s hit 4 already this season and looks a decent bet for an anytime goalscorer option agin today.
Onto Walsall, and the midlands club find themselves fifth from bottom of the division having won just once so far this season, and that was a recent 3-1 home win over Preston North End. Aside from that success though, there has been little to cheer about for The Saddlers’ fans as they’ve lost back-to-back away matches in quick succession.
Defeats at Scunthorpe United and Rochdale, the latter by a 0-4 margin means that Walsall have taken just two points from the last possible 12 on offer with an overall away record of 0-2-2 2/7, and they’ve managed just one away win from their last twelve on their travels.
During this sequence, Walsall have managed only three clean sheets and this could be a key factor with the likes of McDonald in the Gillingham ranks hungry to add to his goalscoring tally.
In short, I expect Gillingham to pick up all three points here this afternoon, but with Walsall’s two away draws so far, I’m opting for the safer draw no bet option on the hosts just in case. Don’t be surprised though if Gillingham take this perhaps 2-1 with McDonald netting.
Pick: Gillingham AH0 @ 1.80 Coral
