EFL pundit Gab Sutton has picked out five best bets from fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two on Halloween weekend.
Gab Sutton's EFL tips & predictions
- Portsmouth/Draw - Double Chance v Burnley @ 7/10
- Stevenage/Draw - Double Chance v Leicester @ 6/5
- Luton Town -2 Handicap v Peterborough @ 11/2
- Bristol Rovers to beat Fleetwood @ 29/20
- Tranmere Rovers to beat Cheltenham @ 17/20
As an accumulator, pays 109/1
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Portsmouth or Draw: Double Chance – 7/10
Burnley v Portsmouth
Burnley have appointed Fabio Celestini as their new head coach, in hope of troubleshooting the issues that have led to one win in their first 12 league games, after relegation from the Premier League last season.
The Clarets have wasted a lot of the money that came with playing in the top flight, and have been left with a disjointed, imbalanced squad, not helped by injuries to numerous important players like Josh Cullen and Zeki Amdouni.
Portsmouth, on the other hand, look ready to make strides from their first two seasons at this level, which have been all about survival: they’ve invested a bit more this summer and have resultantly acquired some excellent footballers, like Iyad Mohamed in midfield.
Pompey are playing better football this year and they find themselves in the top half, so I don’t see them making that long trip home to the south-coast empty handed.
Stevenage or Draw: Double Chance – 6/5
Leicester City v Stevenage
The fact only three points separates Leicester and Stevenage, with the latter having a game in hand, is testament to the hard work Alex Revell has done to build a fantastic footballing culture, and get a team playing above the sum of its parts.
Revell has gradually evolved the style at the Lamex, starting from a realistic base, and over time the calibre of player the Hertfordshire outfit can attract has increased.
The Boro are a really happy ship right now, and for that reason I see them getting something at Leicester: the short trip to the East Midlands allows them to take larger and vocal away following, and tap into that underdog spirit.
Leicester are in improved form with three wins in their last four league games, but every time they’ve shown glimpses of progression, they’ve lost a home game they should win and I worry their disorganisation means that might happen again.
Luton Town: -2.0 Handicap Result - 11/2
Peterborough United v Luton Town
Robbie Savage’s Peterborough career got off to a great start on day one, with a 3-1 victory at Leicester, but I do wonder if that fixture, against a side that won’t expose them by going over the top, fed into their hands as an extreme, aggressive pressing outfit.
We saw in the League Cup in midweek, Posh give away four major counter-attacking opportunities within a five-minute second half spell at Bradford through attacking with no structure: I don’t think Savage is the type to compromise, so I see them being vulnerable hosts against Luton.
With their approach, when they lose I don’t think it’ll often be by one goal, because of how they chase the game and open themselves up: they’ll suffer a lot of maulings as a result of how they play.
Visitors Luton average two goals a game this season, and have won four of their last five in the league, so I think they might knock in a few goals past youthful opposition at London Road.
Bristol Rovers to Win - 29/20
Fleetwood Town v Bristol Rovers
Three of the last six times a League Two team has beaten a Premier League side in the League Cup, they’ve lost the following weekend.
I subscribe to the view that the ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ theory is real, and that overcoming all the odds to produce an emphatic giant-killing can really take it out of a team – I feel that will be especially true in Fleetwood’s case, seeing as they’ve just knocked out the champions of England, and had a day off on Wednesday.
As such, I’m willing to back Bristol Rovers to put an end to their poor form, after Steve Evans’ side steadied the ship with a valuable point and clean sheet against Swindon.
The Gas have been better defensively since Alfie Kilgour came into the back-line, and I feel they have enough in a front three of Forde, Cavegn and Quigley to grab a narrow win.
Tranmere to Win - 17/20
Tranmere Rovers v Cheltenham Town
Tranmere might be 10 places lower than Cheltenham in the table, but the eye test would say they’ve been arguably the better team.
The Robins have been extremely strong in key moments, whether that’s Jake Evans feeding Charlie McCann, or goalkeeper Wyll Stanway making priceless saves – but they’ve not really dominated games.
Whereas, Rovers have been more imposing in midfield, through the experience of Will Vaulks and Tom Ince, who has combined brilliantly with Dylan Jones and Joel Senior, who has produced some lovely displays from right-back of late.
Darrell Clarke’s side haven’t always been able to kill games off while on top, which is why they’re mid-table, but Faulkner and Nevett have been solid enough defensively of late for one or two goals to be enough – and I think they will be.
All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
