Football – England – League Two
Saturday 18th October 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Hartlepool United ended a run of five matches without a win in League Two last weekend when they made the long trip down to Exeter City and took the points in a 2-1 win at St.James’ Park, but they face a difficult encounter this afternoon despite being at home to Luton Town.
Recent defeats to Northampton Town 1-5, 0-2 at Plymouth Argyle and a 0-3 home loss to local rivals Carlisle United had plunged Hartlepool United into early trouble at the wrong end of the division, but the three points at Exeter was a welcome boost nevertheless.
However, Pools have won just once at Victoria Park so far this term and that was a 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town, but since then, they’ve had to make do with draws against Tranmere and Portsmouth before going down to Carlisle. Their overall home record stands at a disappointing 1-2-3 2/7 and they’ve actually failed to score in six of their last seven home matches.
Visitors Luton Town appear to be building up a head of steam right now on the back of four consecutive league wins with victories over Cambridge United, Oxford United, Stevenage and Southend United, and this run has lifted John Still’s men into an early play-off position in fourth place.
There’s a long way to go obviously, but the signs are now a lot more encouraging for The Hatters who had registered just one league win from their first six matches upon their return to the football league.
Luton are now unbeaten in their last six overall, while their away form has also improved with back-to-back away wins at Cambridge United and Stevenage with an away record of 3-2-1 6/5.
Hartlepool’s poor form at home has done them no favours up until now, and with Luton Town on a roll, I fancy backing the visitors with the round ball with a view to them perhaps stealing the points in a narrow 1-0 win here.
Pick: Luton Town AH0 @ 1.67 Bet Victor
