Gaz is back with his views on this weekend’s EFL action and fancies this four-fold to be fruitful.
Burton v Port Vale – Sat 20th Aug 15:00 BST
- Burton have been quite a regular feature in this column thus far and with good reason. The Brewers have picked up just one point in their first 4 league matches and sit bottom of the table at this early stage.
- Last weekend’s 4-4 draw was the only positive for Hasselbaink’s men but having been 3-0 ahead it probably doesn’t feel that way.
- Newly promoted Port Vale have struggled slightly since their opening day win over Fleetwood, losing 2 and drawing the other.
- The performances for Vale have been good despite not putting many points on the board and I fancy them to get back on track here.
Crawley v AFC Wimbledon – Sat 20th Aug 15:00 BST
- Wimbledon have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign with Tuesday’s 5-2 defeat at the hands of Mansfield being their first league loss of the season. Chris Gunter’s sending off just before half-time didn’t help their cause against a strong Mansfield outfit.
- Prior to that mid-week defeat The Wombles were solid rather than flashy but have kept the points total ticking over.
- Crawley failed to score in their first 3 games and despite breaking that duck in mid-week versus Northampton, they still came out on the wrong end of a 2-3 scoreline.
- Wimbledon’s resilience should shine through here and 2/1 looks like a juicy price.
Exeter v Cheltenham – Sat 20th Aug 15:00 BST
- Exeter featured in my mid-week accumulator and got the job done with ease coming out the victors in a 3-1 scoreline.
- The Grecians are 2/2 at St James’ Park this season scoring 7 and conceding just 1 goal.
- Cheltenham picked up their first point on Tuesday when holding Fleetwood to a nil nil draw. It’s now 4 games in all competitions since they’ve scored and this looks like a tough task.
- All things considered a home win sticks out as a banker for the weekend.
Swindon v Rochdale – Sat 20th Aug 15:00 BST
- Rochdale are rooted to the bottom of the table with 4 losses in their 4 league matches so far. With just one goal scored in those games it looks like it could be a long season for Dale fans.
- Swindon have yet to really click into gear but this looks like a good chance to kickstart their season.
- The Robbins started with an opening day loss and come into this game on a run of 3 consecutive draws. They were one of the league’s top sides last term, illustrated by their spot in the playoffs, and despite some player churn over the summer still have a lot of quality at this level.
- A home win looks a solid bet in this one.
Smart Bets
Burton v Port Vale – Port Vale Win (1 point @ 6/4)
Crawley v AFC Wimbledon – AFC Wimbledon Win ( 1 point @ 2/1)
Exeter v Cheltenham – Exeter Win (4 points @ 4/6)
Swindon v Rochdale – Swindon Win (1 point @ 19/20)
Above in an acca (1 point @ 23/1)