League Two
Saturday 31st December 2011 – Kickoff: 1300hrs
The Globe Arena is the setting for my next pick as Morecambe take on high-flying Burton Albion with the home side looking for their first win in six matches.
Morecambe have lost four of their last five matches losing out to Crewe Alexandra, Shrewsbury Town, Swindon Town and Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day. They’ve only managed draws against Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle and their inconsistent form shows why they sit mid-table.
The Shrimps’ home record stands at 3-3-5 19/15, and incredibly, one of their wins was against the current league leaders Crawley Town where they won 6-0! Since then of course it’s been downhill ever since with just one more win in their last seven at home.
Leading scorer Kevin Ellison (7 goals, 1 assist) missed the Accrington Stanley match and is a doubt for the visit of Burton Albion. Forward Danny Carlton (6 goals, 4 assists) is also a threat, along with Lawrence Wilson (5 goals) and Stuart Drummond (4 goals). The assists have been predominantly supplied by Carlton and midfielder Izak Reid (4 assists).
Visitors Burton Albion have put together some good results lately including wins over Macclesfield Town, Hereford United, AFC Wimbledon and on Boxing Day, Northampton Town. They’ve lost one in their last six which was at Crawley Town who have got stronger as the season has progressed.
The Brewers’ away record stands at 5-2-4 20/21, and another win here could lift them into the automatic promotion places depending on other results. Manager Paul Peschisolido has done a great job with the squad and winning fixtures like this one today will go a long way to them being in the mix at the end of the season.
Burton tend not to have many problems scoring goals and with personnel such as strikers Billy Kee (11 goals, 1 assist), Justin Richards (10 goals, 3 assists) and Calvin Zola (6 goals, 1 assist) along with support and creativity from Jacques Maghoma (1 goal, 5 assists) and Kevin Amankwaah (4 assists), you can see why.
Just 2 goals from Morecambe in their last five matches means that I’ll go for Burton Albion and their superior attacking flair with the round ball (draw no bet) for insurance at great odds. Burton to win in another 3-2 thriller!
Main Pick: Burton Albion AH0 @ 2.21 Pinnacle
Value Pick: Burton Albion straight win @ 3.10 Stan James
Long Shot: Billy Kee to score anytime @ 2.75 bet365
