March 24, 2011

League One Betting: Can Terrriers edge close encounter with County?

English Football League RSS / Alan Dudman / 24 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Can Huddersfield win under the glare of the Sky Sports cameras?

Can Huddersfield win under the glare of the Sky Sports cameras?

"Leading scorer Jordan Rhodes needs to step up to the plate to get Huddersfield scoring again."

Alan Dudman returns to League One tipping duties with a look at three matches on international weekend

Huddersfield Town [1.9] v Notts County [5.0], the draw [3.8]
Live Sky Sports 1, Sunday 16:00

With the play-off contenders red-hot at the moment, Huddersfield are just about clinging to their automatic promotion slot, and have eight games and 24 points still to play for. Their form could be better (a bizarre thing to say considering they are only unbeaten team in the division through 2011), but for me they have drawn too many in that run.

Saturday's 0-0 at home to Swindon was almost a blueprint to how their season has gone. They created chances, they looked solid at the back, but lacked that final bit of quality. Leading scorer Jordan Rhodes needs to step up to the plate to get this outfit scoring again.

County meanwhile are the masters of the 1-0 (losing mostly), and have been involved in eight straight games that have hit the under 2.5 goals target. Their last five encounters have all been 1-0, with four of those defeats. I watched the live match against Charlton a few weeks ago, and it was obvious that the Magpies are a world away from a free-scoring team, and create little.

County boss Paul Ince's plan on Tuesday at Brighton was to quieten the crowd, not to concede and work hard. It will be exactly the same here, and the visitors just don't show enough to warrant a threat going forward. The starting point here is to back the 0-0 In-Play and hang on until the second-half. If anyone scores, then Huddersfield nick it, and the unders should be reached again.
Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ [2.06]
Back-to-lay (In-Play) 0-0 @ [12.0]
Back Huddersfield to win 1-0 [9.0]

Bournemouth [1.92] v Charlton Athletic [4.5], the draw [3.65]
If Glenn Fry's hit 'The Heat Is On' mirrors the Huddersfield game, then Tom Petty's 'Free Falling' sums up the horror run of Charlton. The Addicks are winless in nine and have slipped way off the play-off places. On a positive note they held Southampton 1-1 on Tuesday night. Defensively, Charlton look too uncertain and appear vulnerable to balls delivered from wide areas, and manager Chris Powell has highlighted the mental fragility of his team.

Bournemouth meanwhile have lost a bit of ground at the summit of League One, and three straight defeats has seen them slip to sixth place. Rookie boss Lee Bradbury will be tested here, as the dip in form has come at the worst possible time.

The Cherries have a very young squad and perhaps the season might just be catching up with them. However the south coast club have been excellent at home, and did create chances in the 1-0 defeat against Carlisle last weekend. Forward Danny Ings
needs a goal, and his pace will always give him a chance. Both sides might be a bit nervy here, and I suspect the hosts to be more direct than in recent games.
Recommended Bets
Back Bournemouth to win 1-0 @ [11.0] and 2-0 [13.0]
Back under 2.5 goals @ [2.11]
Back Bournemouth to win @ [1.92]

MK Dons [1.81] v Walsall [5.4], the draw [3.75]
The MK Dons are the form team at the moment, and Monday's 1-0 win over free-scoring Peterborough was good in so many ways. Their football was terrific, and both MK Dons and Posh are the two best technical teams by a country mile. I thoroughly enjoyed watching that encounter. I even sacrificed my viewing of America's Next Top Model.

In short, the MK Dons look awesome and are playing with so much confidence. With five straight wins, manager Karl Robinson declared he is in a happy place and enjoying life. The Dons played more of a 4-5-1 against Peterborough, and relied on the blistering pace of Sam Baldock up front, but may revert to a conventional 4-4-2 here.

The Saddlers are still fighting, and boss Dean Smith should get the job full-time with his excellent efforts, but the [1.81] on offer for a home win is too big.
Best Bet: Back MK Dons to win @[1.81]
Back over 2.5 goals @ [1.9]
Back 3-0 @ [16.0]

They may be struggling at the bottom, but can Stockport achieve just their third victory of the season this weekend? Meanwhile, the battle for the play-off positions is hotting up with Stevenage, Gillingham and Oxford all in need of points....

We went out and spoke to former betting.betfair columnist Gary Speed on life without Ryan Giggs, where Gareth Bale ranks amongst the best in the world and gunning for a big scalp on Saturday....

Ian Lamont identifies the best betting opportunities in another ever-competitive weekend of League Two action....


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