League Two Tips: Back free-scoring Port Vale

Valiants offer value at home

Port Vale 2.47/5 v Bradford 3.55/2; the draw 3.55/2
12 noon kick-off on Sky Sports

Port Vale are one of the few League Two sides to have won four games in a row this season.

After not scoring in their first three games, they have been banging in the goals, too, including five against League One Accrington in the FA Cup. Thirty-two strikes in 13 games in fact.

Opta mark the contrast from the very start of the season to now: the Valiants failed to win their opening four league games, but have won eight of their last 11.

There has been little holding Jamie Proctor, Ben Garrity and the attacking forces, it seems. The fact neither have scored in the past five games, 16 goals scored, just emphasises the variety in their abilities.

Fans believe the FA Cup victory has sent a "message" from Darrell Clarke's men to League One, especially as the Valiants sit second. A price of 2.47/5 seems invitingly large, then, surely?

What are the down sides? Bradford dominated their FA Cup match with Exeter, reports say.

Yet they could only draw. And they conceded late, too. They are not so good away as at home, but beat ambitious Swindon and draw at Newport as they were building some form in their past two outside their own city. Two wins in six suggest some fragility, as does that late goal to the Grecians and conceding (as well as scoring) in their past four league games, seven goals in total.

Derek Adams will have been frustrated that his Bantams led against Bristol Rovers and Forest Green, both through seven-goal top scorer Andy Cook as it happens, but let the win slip. Callum Cooke, Opta point out, has created 51 chances in League Two this season, 15 more than any other player.

Meanwhile, Theo Robinson made his first start (league or FA Cup) for the Bantams last Saturday and scored. He'd relish the chance to start again against the club he left in August (he also played there before, among 14 previous league clubs). But Port Vale should prove too strong.

Are Mansfield building up a mood?

Stevenage 2.89/5 v Mansfield 2.942/1; the draw 3.39/4

Could Mansfield now be in the mood to start justifying my optimism pre-season about their promotion chances after a first away win at no less than North East giants Sunderland in the FA Cup last week?

Boss Nigel Clough believes the next four or five games will define their season and determine their destination. After three wins in a row (in all competitions), he is looking for momentum against Stevenage, Sutton, Crawley, Carlisle and Scunthorpe before Christmas, plus Doncaster in the FA Cup. Wisely, he's not setting any targets.

Defender John-Joe O'Toole praised the work rate that earned the win at Sunderland, while Rhys Oates' second goal in as many league and FA Cup games prompted a local headline to ask if his season was finally coming good. Danny Johnson would love the burden of goalscoring to not just fall on him!

Whether the Stags can convert last week's victory plus the hard-fought home win over in-form Tranmere into a first League Two away win of the season is the question.

Stevenage, whose first-team coach Mark Sampson has just left to pursue other opportunities, will have something to say about that, having only lost once at home, picking up four draws. However, their seems to have been a league dip in their goals, with none in their past four outings. A 2-2 draw at MK Dons probably came as a relief.

Opta state there has bene just one goal in their last three League Two clashes between the pair - in a 1-0 win for Mansfield at Broadhall Way in April. In fact the visitors have won four of the last five at that venue. Whether Elliott List or Brad Barry can score for the hosts is one thing: the key battle will be at the other end where Alex Revell's men have conceded 13 times in five league games.

3pm kick-offs

Keith has Hill to climb and can start with draw

Scunthorpe 4.57/2 v Salford 2.111/10; the draw 3.55/2

Is it playing new boss bingo or roulette to think that Keith Hill can bring immediate improvement to bottom club Scunthorpe? His first game was the daunting task of pitting League Two's bottom club Scunthorpe against League One Doncaster in the FA Cup. He'll take a 1-0 home defeat on the chin.

He saw plenty of energy and enthusiasm from his new charges, but he wanted them to "relax" when in possession. It is easy to imagine the panic that being a struggling side will induce when finally the ball is at hand. 'Make the most of this limited opportunity' brings pressure.

Hill might be thinking that, too. Smarting, no doubt, about not being offered the Tranmere job full time after reaching the play-offs last season, he might think that had he held on for a few days he could be inheriting a far better position at Hartlepool than the one he does at Glanford Park. A defender, Harry Davis, shares top scorer status with forward Jake Scrimshaw, on two apiece.

It might seem worse that the first League Two opposition he faces are much vaulted Salford City. However, a bit like COP26's summit to address climate change, the Ammies offer much promising talk but haven't yet delivered.

In fact, their away record is pretty appalling, giving the Iron a chance of something if, this week, Aaron Jarvis can finish the sort of chance he spurned against Doncaster last time out.

Gary Bowyer's visitors have only picked up away points by beating struggling Colchester. Five away defeats gives the hosts some hope of gaining a point if they can settle for Hill, who is bound to have demanded change and made improvements in training.

Salford have four home draws, to boot, in a draw-strewn league. Interestingly, their top scorer, Tom Elliott (3), only has one more than Scunthorpe's best, while several players have two apiece including veteran campaigner Ian Henderson.

Opta point out that Scunthorpe, having lost two in a row, have only been defeated in three consecutive matches once in their Football League history, in January 2020. Hill needs no reminded that supporters will be thinking he will be busy in the January window and could do without the unwanted statistic. Back the new manager factor to earn a point. Opta add the history of this fixture is tight: the home side has won none of the three league meetings between the pair, with two draws.

Stats point to a draw at Spotland

Rochdale 2.6413/8 v Leyton Orient 3.211/5; the draw 3.412/5

Opta shout out the statistic that Leyton Orient have lost just two of their first 15 league games, their fewest at this stage of a season since 2013-14 when they had lost one in League One.

Surely that's got a huge amount to do with the fact the O's have drawn eight this season (five on the road), making them prime candidates for draw seekers. We just need compliant opposition. Can we find them at Spotland?

We'll have to ignore the second Opta stat that Rochdale have suffered defeat in their first match of six of the the past seven months!

Robbie Stockdale's men are undefeated in four league games (two draws), winning the last two. Jake Beesley has come good again with two strikes in the win at Barrow, but he only scores periodically (the other two at the start of September). Liam Kelly, in a good run of games in October, has also scored twice, for a side that has five draws this season and a moderate, average home form.

Remarkably, report media close to Leyton Orient, Kenny Jackett's sixth placed side have not had a full squad to choose from once this season. Callum Reilly, Adam Thompson and Paul Smyth could soon return, to bolster competition for places. Former QPR striker Smyth could have to bide his time if Aaron Drinan can maintain his scoring habit, reset with a hat-trick against Hartlepool and cemented with the FA Cup winner against Ebbsfleet. After four draws in their last five league games, another point would be a good one here.