League One Betting: T-Bone steak, Christine Bleakley and in-form Southend

English Football League / Alan Dudman / 25 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Alan Dudman on how Southend and Scunthorpe are meat and drink bets at the moment as far as League One betting goes and why Millwall may prove to be one of the best football wagers of the whole weekend.

A magnificent T-bone 16oz steak with peppercorn sauce, a cheeky chianti, Christine Bleakley in Strictly Come Dancing and wins for both selections in the column last weekend completed a rather enjoyable 24 hours, so thank you Scunthorpe and Southend...who both will be mentioned once again.

However we will start with Sunday's game, and just like inequality problem proofs, we will attempt to get the right answers by working our way backwards..... a system mathematicians have snappily termed 'the backwards solution'. So, let us give you the solution to Swindon against Millwall, in a far simpler format.

Form and momentum are key in this division, see Scunthorpe last week - who racked up their sixth straight win. The Iron are not alone, as Millwall are rapidly turning in to the surprise package of the season.

Kenny Jackett's side moved up to fourth in the table following last Saturday's 2-0 victory over Cheltenham. The Londoners are unbeaten in six, have won their last four, and have conceded precisely no goals in their last three. Compelling evidence m'lud.

The Lions have real strength in depth in terms of squad numbers, but looking at them on the highlights, their pace, quality and physical presence could turn them in to genuine promotion candidates.

Despite all these plus points, Millwall amazingly are trading as the outsider of the two for Sunday's game at [2.96], which quite frankly looks terrific value.

I would be severely tempted in a back outright at that price, but considering Swindon are the shorter of the two at [2.48], the sensible option will probably be in the lay of the home side - who are not exactly flying with one win in their last six.

To continue moving backwards we head to Saturday and two teams who made the Carling Cup headlines in midweek - Northampton and Brighton.

The latter knocked out the richest club in the world, the former had Roy Keane gnarling like his former master, whilst the Seagulls were the ones that progressed to the next round - both can be proud of their achievements.

Success in the Cup however does not always translate to a good performance the next weekend, and these two teams are not exactly in the best of form, this will probably be a poor game.

The Cobblers are without a win since the opening day of the season, whilst Brighton seem to have lost the plot recently - going from title contenders to also-rans in the space of five games.

Micky Adams' side really look as though they are stuggling for goals at the moment, they've netted only twice in four outings and for that reason I will play in the under 2.5 goals market.

The Sixfields has also played host to a couple of draws already this season in the League, and with both possibly feeling the exertions of their gruelling midweek exploits, I will also back the draw at [3.41].

We mentioned Scunthorpe last time, and there is no reason they should not beat Yeovil this weekend at Glanford Park. The Iron are now six from six and are quite rightly trading at [1.68] to make it seven.

Scunny's Gary Hooper bagged his seventh of the season last Saturday and now trades as second favourite in the top goalscorer market at [9.21] behind Jermaine Beckford. I wouldn't be surprised if a few clubs in the Championship didn't start to sniff around, but thankfully he is on our side for now, and his ice cool head in front of goal should hopefully make us another profit this weekend.

With the home side trading pretty short, value may be in the correct score predictions once again. Take Scunthorpe to win 2-0, 3-0 and 3-1.

Finally Friday night action serves up Southend [1.97] against Leyton Orient [4.70] at Roots Hall. A venue Orient have enjoyed plenty of success recently having suffered only one defeat in their last 10 visits to the seaside.

Orient are a whopping price, whilst Southend at just under evens could be seen as value having picked up recently.

I will play neither of the outrights however, simply because neither team appears capable of defending at the moment. The Shrimpers concede plenty of goals, whilst the O's fare no better - six have found their way past Glenn Morris in their last two games.

With a big crowd, floodlights, a derby atmosphere, I anticipate a ton of chances - so for that reason I'll be backing in the over 2.5 goals market....available at [2.02]. Bring on the steak.