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Foul play at St James' Park
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No Vardy, no party
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Addicks to wander all over Wycombe
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Chalk and cheese in League Two
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Newcastle vs Chelsea - 12:00 (TNT Sports)
This is a in a huge game in the race for European football.
The sides begin MD36 level on points (63) with the same goal-difference (+21) but Newcastle are ahead on goals scored in fourth spot.
Eddie Howe's side rarely get beat at St James' Park but the Blues form has picked up recently, they have won their last five on the spin in all competitions.
This one should be a closely thought contest, with plenty of needle.
Chelsea top the Premier League's charts for ill-discipline and commit 11.5 fouls per game. Newcastle draw the third most fouls in the league (12) so the visitors fouls market is worth a look.
Blues frontman Nicolas Jackson has seven cards this term and averages more fouls (1.1) then he does complete tackles (0.8) per game.
He has committed at least one foul in each of his last six league appearances and 2+ fouls in three of his last four.
With the Sportsbook he is 13/53.60 to be carded but I much rather rake the 17/102.70 for him to commit +2 fouls.
Back Nicolas Jackson 2+ fouls
Nottingham Forest vs Leicester - 14:15 (Sky Sports)
Nottingham Forest fans will be looking at this fixture with dread.
Their European hopes are hanging by a thread, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo are both potentially missing and Chris Wood's goals have dried up.
It is also an East Midlands derby against a Leicester side with nothing to play for. Approach with caution Nuno Espirito Santo.
I pencilled this clash in at the beginning of the month because I heard on Talksport that Jamie Vardy was two goals off 200 goals for Leicetser.
He has since opened the scoring against Southampton which leaves him within one goal ahead of this clash with the Foxes rivals.
Betfair's Sportsbook has him at 7/24.50 to score anytime, which is worth taking given the narrative.
Back Jamie Vardy to score anytime
Vardy's off at the end of the season and knowing the type of character he is, no doubt he'll be double keen to reach a double century whilst simultaneously putting a dent in one of his club's rivals European hopes.
Betfair have the industry best prices for him to be carded at 11/26.50 and to score and be carded at 28/129.00.
Back Jamie Vardy to be carded
I'll be taking all three as singles but if the game state suits, I'll be going back in around the 75th minute mark just in case...
Back Jamie Vardy to score & be carded
Chesterfield vs Walsall - 15:30 (Sky Sports)
In terms of form, these two sides are chalk and cheese.
Walsall's downfall is nothing short of staggering.
The Saddlers were 12 points clear at the turn of the year having lost just three of their opening 23 games (W16 D4). Mat Sadler's side then took 28 points from their last 24 games, losing eight times, to fall a point short of the automatic spots.
Rotten form aside, the nature in which they missed out on the top three on final day was cruel.
Walsall beat Crewe and with Bradford drawing at home to Fleetwood deep into injury time, it looked like Walsall had snuck into the automatic spots. The Bantams scored a goal in the last seconds of the game to usurp Walsall and confined the Saddlers to the lottery of the play-offs.
They'll have to dust themselves off, put the poor form and heartbreak of final day behind them ahead of Sunday's clash with Chesterfield in the space of eight days.
Meanwhile, their opponents have only lost one of their last 13 and are unbeaten in six.
In hindsight, Paul Cook's rant after the capitulation against Walsall back in mid-February was a master stroke.
At the time, the Spireites were in the midst of a rotten run, only winning two of 13 games in all competitions. Despite taking the lead at the Bescot Stadium, Chesterfield lost 3-1 and in his post-match interview, Cook said he was planning for next season in League Two.
Fast forward a few weeks and they are heading into the play-offs as the inform team and at 2.1011/10 with the Exchange, backing them to win on Sunday appeals.
Wycombe vs Charlton - 18:30 (Sky Sports)
Wycombe host Charlton in the EFL's final play-off first leg on Sunday evening.
The context of this one is interesting.
Wycombe went into the final day in fourth spot but their defeat coupled with Charlton's win over Burton saw them drop to fifth and surrender the opportunity to play the second leg at home.
For large parts of the campaign, Wycombe were firmly in the race for the automatics and flying with club legend Matt Bloomfield in the dugout and EFL League One Young Player of the Year Richard Kone upfront.
The goal dried up for Kone and Bloomfield jumped ship in mid-January.
Since Mike Dodds took the reins, Wycombe have dropped points in 12 of their 21 league games and their record against the top seven is concerning.
In six games, Dodds side are winless, shipping 11 goals and scoring just once.
Sunday's opponents Charlton put four past them just three weeks ago to complete the double and are one of the inform sides in the division.
Only Birmingham have taken more points in League One since the start of December (W19 D6 L4).
At 1.774/5 with the Betfair Exchange, backing the visitors +0.25 Asian handicap is the bet.
Back Charlton Asian handicap