Football – England – League Two
Saturday 13th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Newport County will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in League Two to an impressive nine matches when they play host to Stevenage at Rodney Parade on Saturday afternoon.
Recent back-to-back wins over 9th placed Bury 3-1 and Carlisle United 3-2 have not only proved that the Welsh outfit can win on the road, but it’s also pushed The Exiles into play-off reckoning as they currently sit in 7th place and just five points adrift of Shrewsbury Town in the automatic promotion spot.
Newport have also lost at home just once so far this season which was a 2-0 defeat to current League Two leaders Wycombe Wanderers in their opening match of the new season, but since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength and have put together an eight match unbeaten run at Rodney Parade. Their overall home record stands at a very solid 4-4-1 16/11.
Stevenage find themselves just below the mid-table mark as we approach the busy Christmas and New Year period with their home record of 6-1-3 18/11 preventing them from dropping into the lower end of the division so far.
However, Stevenage’s results away from their Lamex Stadium have been less convincing as they’ve lost four of their last six matches on the road with defeats at Bury, Carlisle United, Portsmouth and most recently Northampton Town.
Despite a couple of draws at Oxford United and Tranmere Rovers recently, Stevenage still possess quite a poor away record of 1-3-5 9/16 and they’ve kept just one clean sheet in their nine away matches so far.
I have to back the hosts here as they possess a very solid home record at Rodney Parade. However, I do advise giving the quarter ball as there have also been a number of draws as well so if this ends up another stalemate, you’ll only lose half your stake. That said, Newport could take this perhaps 2-1.
Pick: Newport County AH-0.25 @ 1.82 Bet Victor
