EFL Tips: Reading Travel To Leyton Orient in League One

Gaz is in great form and has three more win selections across The English Football Leagues this weekend

Leyton Orient v Reading

Sat 07 Oct 15:00

There’s a dark cloud hanging over Brisbane Road after the death of a fan at Tuesday’s fixture versus Lincoln. Given the circumstances it seems a little bad taste to be thinking about betting, however the show must go on. Tuesday’s game was ultimately abandoned with The O’s winning 1-0 in the 83rd minute, and a decision is pending as to the course of action to be taken. Some are calling for a replay, others for the result to stand. Assuming Orient would have held on, that would bring their home record to three wins from a possible five, including three clean sheets in their “wins”.

Reading come into this game in a perilous position, currently sitting 22nd in the table. A combination of bad form and points deductions stemming from financial difficulties is to blame and unfortunately for The Royals, I don’t see things getting better anytime soon. The Berkshire side have lost all five away matches, conceding 11 goals in the process. Given Orient’s home form this looks a banker home win at 6/5.

Bradford City v Swindon Town

Sat 07 Oct 15:00

Bradford sacked manager Mark Hughes after Tuesday’s defeat to Tranmere, their third consecutive defeat in all competitions. Although The Bantams are 18th in League Two, to my mind that sacking seems like a bit of a knee-jerk reaction and could end up coming back to haunt the board. Only seven points separate AFC Wimbledon in 2nd and Harrogate in 19th and after last season’s run to the Playoffs, Hughes probably deserved more time.

Swindon suffered their first defeat of the season away to table-toppers Notts County in midweek but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. The Robins are a dangerous side and pose a significant attacking threat. They’ve only failed to score in one game in all competitions (14 matches) and I fancy them to bag a couple against this shaky Bradford defence. Michael Flynn’s side average 2.8 goals scored per league game and at 2/1 looks incredible value.

Salford City v Crewe Alexandra

Sat 07 Oct 15:00

Salford have turned things around in recent weeks with back-to-back wins ending a run of five straight league defeats. While those wins will be a welcome relief, I’m not sure there’s too much substance to the from considering they’ve come against an inconsistent Newport and a Sutton side rooted to the bottom of the table. The bookmakers seem to have been more impressed than me, making the home side favourites at odds of 23/20.

Crewe beat Gillingham earlier this week, knocking the Kent side off their perch at the top of the table. The Railwaymen are now unbeaten in 6 league games (W4, D2, L0) and find themselves very much in the race for promotion this season. One of the most pleasing aspects of Tuesday’s win was keeping a clean sheet, their first of the season in League Two. Their habit of conceding soft goals had made them a dodgy betting proposition but with the monkey off their back I’m now more than willing to side with them. At 12/5 an away win is great value and rounds out this week’s treble.