Football – England – League One
Saturday 1st November 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
I couldn’t believe the odds that the bookmakers were opening with in this fixture, making hosts Notts County very narrow favourites over the visitors Walsall who have won just twice in their last six.
At the risk of making a complete idiot of myself, here’s my rationale for my pick in this one;
Notts County registered their six consecutive win in all competitions when they beat Scunthorpe United 1-0 at Glanford Park last weekend, and in fact it’s now nine matches without defeat for The Magpies in League One having won their last five on the bounce.
Home wins over Gillingham and Crawley Town were almost expected, but the away wins at Crewe Alexandra, Barnsley and Scunthorpe United (whilst all being against bottom half opposition), were still impressive in their nature and represents the behaviours of a team that could be serious challengers for a play-off place.
Walsall meanwhile have been very hit-and-miss in recent weeks with wins over Doncaster Rovers and Chesterfield along with defeats against Oldham Athletic, Crewe Alexandra and Crawley Town, but it again needs to be noted that most of The Saddlers’ ‘hits’ have been at their Banks’s Stadium rather than on their travels.
An away record of 0-3-4 3/10 going into todays encounter tells its own story as Walsall have struggled to find the back of the net on the road, failing to score in four of their seven away matches so far.
In fact, Walsall’s track record away from home has ben very poor with just one win from their last fifteen, so I don’t understand the prices that have been posted up for this fixture. Anyway, I’ll ease back a little in case the bookies have some inside knowledge that I’m not privy to, but I recommend backing Notts County with the round ball at decent odds. The hosts will probably win this perhaps 2-1 anyway.
Pick: Notts County AH0 @ 1.87 Bet Victor
