Yeovil Vs Woking
Woking are 12th in the National League after back to back losses – 1-0 to top of league Grimsby and 3-2 away to Maidenhead after having a man sent off at 2-1 up. Strikers Iffiah Effiong and in particular Tahvon Campbell have been in very good goal scoring form. Midfielder Max Kretzschmar also helps in the goal department, notching 3 from midfield this season. Dominating central midfield partnership Rohan Ince and Nwabuokei will slowly settle Woking’s defence. In away games this season, Woking have won 3/5, scoring at least 2 in all the games. These games included a 4-0 demolishing of last seasons play off finalists Torquay, and a 4-1 dismantling of one of pre seasons favourites for the title Notts County. The Cardinals have also beaten a very strongly fancied Chesterfield side 3-1 infront of their own fans and were unlucky to lose against Hollywood bankrolled Wrexham.
Yeovil on the other hand have won 3 games all season, with all 3 coming in their first 4 games. Since then, Darren Sarll’s men have failed to win in their last 6 games, losing 5 and failing to score in 4. Whilst it has been a tough start to the season for the Glovers, facing 7 of the top 10- the bad run of form will surely take a toll on the morale. 3 of their 9 goals this year have come from the penalty spot so open play creativity has been an issue for Yeovil. A gruelling 565.6 mile round trip to face Grimsby on Saturday would have also had an affect on the teams preparation and fatigue ahead of the visit of a very high energy Woking side.
With all things considered, I am expecting a close affair between the sides, but Wokings odds of 2/1 for a win definitely takes my fancy.
Best Bet: Woking to win- 3.0- Bet 365
Wealdstone vs Grimsby
17th place Wealdstone host top of the league Grimsby at Grosvenor Vale.
Wealdstone come into this game without a win in 4. In fact, only perennial strugglers Dover have won less games than the Stones (2). Manager Stuart Maynard will be looking to change this before they start to slump. On the flip side, Wealdstone have only lost 5 times, with only 13th placed Eastleigh losing less times. However, in all of these 5 defeats Maynard’s side have conceded at least twice, a worrying trend when coming up against league leaders and joint top scorers Grimsby.
Paul Hurst’s side come into this match on the back of 4 straight wins- scoring 12 goals in the process. After relegation from league 2 last season, the Mariners will be hoping to bounce back at the first time of asking. Grimsby fans will definitely be travelling in numbers so the fact that it’s an away game won’t phase them. Grimsby have won 9 times this season- scoring 2+ in 7 of these games. In fact, they have scored in every game this season bar a 0-0 draw away at Stockport in August. Hurst also has a plethora of goal threat in his side, with 12 players already finding the net this season and John Mcatee and Ryan Taylor seeing 11 between them- the same amount Wealdstone have managed all season. With Grimsby managing 9 wins in 12 and 27 goals, I expect them to beat this Wealdstone side as the title charge continues in north east England.
Best Bet: Grimsby to win and over 1 goal in the match for Grimsby- 2.0- Bet365
Chesterfield vs Eastleigh
The Spireites host the Spitfires at the Technique Stadium.
Chesterfield come into this game in second. James Rowe has a star studded team at his disposal, only losing once this season in a second half collapse against Woking. Rowe has his side hard to score against, boasting the joint best defensive record in the league. Undeniably though, the Spirites strength lies in attack with Kabongo Tshimanga and Danny Rowe arguably the strongest strike partnership the national league has seen for a while, with the pair having 15 goals between them already. Rowes 5 goals have come at an average of a goal every 125.6 minutes, with Tshimanga scoring every 108 minutes. Both bagged against Boreham Wood last time out with Rowe also bagging a hat-trick the game before against Southend. If both strikers are on form, a weak Eastleigh defence could be in trouble.
Onto that weak Eastleigh defence now. The Spitfires have the worst defensive record in the top 13 and have conceded every game, including against winless Dover and 22nd place Southend who are the two lowest scorers in the league. Ben Strevens mid table outfit have also seen 17th placed Wealdstone , 18th placed Barnet and 20th place Kings Lynn score against them. In their 4 defeats this season, they have conceded 8 goals, an average of 2 per game. Playing against a Chesterfield side averaging 2 goals a game, will both teams conform to their average?
Best Bet: Chesterfield to win and over 1 Chesterfield goal- 2.0- Bet 365
Stockport County vs Barnet
Another National League side who have invested heavily facing off against a team who leak goals for fun as Stockport host Barnet.
In fact, Barnet have the worst defensive record in the league- but onto them later. With Stockport, Grimsby, Wrexham and Chesterfield the stand-out teams on paper, County and Wrexham have failed to live up to pre season expectations, lingering in mid table. Simon Rusk had big shoes to fill replacing club legend Jim Gannon. The pressure was intensified after a summer spree, with players such as Zeki Fryers, Ben Whitfield and Oliver Crankshaw coming into the club. The biggest coup of the summer was signing 15 goal striker from Barrow, who are the league above. Quigley and Madden were going to be a strike force to fear and with John Rooney chipping in, Stockport had all the firepower to steamroll teams. However, County have only scored 10 goals this season, with Quigley and Madden on 3 between them. The signing of Bolton captain Antoni Sarcevic has turned many a head as the creative lynchpin should be playing league 1 football. He will likely slot into Stockport side on Tuesday.
Barnet have struggled for clean sheets this season- with their sole shut out coming at home to Halifax. As mentioned earlier, the Bees have the worst defensive record in the league- with 25 conceded in 12 games. Caretaker manager Dean Brennan has a huge task on his hands if he’s to contain a strong Stockport attacking features the likes of Madden, Rooney, Sarcevic and Quigley. Barnet have only won 2 all season- with 1 coming against Dover who are yet to win. In their 6 defeats so far, Barnet have leaked 20 goals- an average of 3.3 a game. They have conceded 2+ in all of these defeats and have lost by at least 2 in all bar the 4-3 defeat to Grimsby. With Stockport winning 3 of their last 4 and new signings gelling, Barnet may be dreading their trip up north.
Best Bet: Stockport to win by 2 or more goals- 2.10- Bet 365
Notts County Vs Bromley
The final game of the preview comes from Nottingham as Notts County host high flying Bromley in a match that will be crucial for the playoff race.
Notts County sit in 8th place with 6 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, scoring 22 goals and conceding 16. County are a very hard team to predict this season, picking up a point at Wrexham and beating Stockport- yet getting beat 4-1 at home to Woking and collapsing to lose 3-2 from 2-0 up against 10 men Halifax. Manager Ian Burchnall was a left field appointment, with the 38 year old being Graham Potters successor at Östersund. Whilst it was a refreshing appointment, different from the usual in this league, Burchnall has received mixed reviews in Nottingham. Upfront, Kyle Wooton and Ruben Rodrigues have scored 6 goals each, with Cal Roberts chipping in with 4. It is in defence where County must improve, with the aforementioned collapse at Halifax and the capitulation at Woking prime examples. In home games this season, both teams to score has occurred in 5/6 games for Notts County, putting them joint top for this metric. In terms of BTTS and over 2.5 goals, it has happened in 4/6 home games. With big spenders Stockport and Wrexham lurking behind them outside the playoffs, Notts County will be eager to get some more wins under their belts and adding to their back to back wins.
Bromley come into this in 6th place, winning 7 drawing 1 and losing 2. They are only 3 points off 2nd place Chesterfield having played 2 games less. Andy Woodman has the Ravens flying high, winning 6 straight. Bromley have also scored 2+ in all bar 1 of these games. Their 3 games without victory came in a 4-2 opening day defeat at Dagenham, a 2-2 draw at Chesterfield and a 3-2 home defeat to Boreham Wood. No matter the opponent or location, Woodman sets his team out to win and this is evident in the goals seen on their travels. This is shown by 3/4 of Bromley away games seeing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. In total, the Lilywhites have seen 16 goals in 4 away games- an average of 4 per game. Michael Cheek is their talisman on 9 goals and he will be key if Bromley are to get a result tonight.
With 67% of Notts County home games seeing BTTS and over 2.5 goals and 75% of Bromleys, Bet 365s price of 2.05 for this bet to land is very appealing.
Best Bet: Both teams to score and and over 2.5 goals- 2.05 Bet 365
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