Written by Cornermanden. The author’s opinions and predictions are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Unibet. Odds and details may change between the time of writing and when placing a bet – always check before betting.
While the FA Cup 3rd round excites and stresses fans all over the land, the teams that have been knocked out will stick to their bread and butter: league football. Here are my best bets for League One round 27.
Charlie’s Cods
Fleetwood Town v Derby County
Guess who the new Fleetwood Town manager is? Charlie Adam! Yes, the Blackpool, Liverpool and Stoke guy with the wonderful left foot.
He got off to a pretty grim start to his managerial career when his Fleetwood side lost by three goals to one against Shrewsbury Town on Monday. However, if we simply look at the numbers, it was a tighter game than the result would suggest. At least that’s what Charlie Adam said, who was proud of his players after the event.
It’s hard to say what kind of football Adam proclaims and wants his team to play this League One round 27, but in his press conference after signing for the club, he pointed out the following:
- Fleetwood is a hard-working, honest, and passionate town and the football club must reflect that.
We did see glimpses of that against Shrewsbury, and I’ll think they’ll be better for it going forwards. They do have an OK squad with some decent players, particularly Jack Marriott and Jayden Stockley, who need service to get goals.
In my Monday preview of the League One games, I picked Peterborough United to score over 1.5 goals at 3.00. They did, and won the game 3-2 in the end. On the wrong side of that result were Derby County, who saw their great run come to a crashing halt. The Rams have been impressive – both on the road and at home – lately, and I’ve seen Paul Warne’s teams respond by getting back on the horse after a disappointment before, although he is a quite “patchy” manager, meaning they go on good and bad streaks from time to time.
I think this will be a really good game for the neutral. I can’t wait to see it, and my bet in this game is over 10.5 corners at 1.56. Two really good corner teams on a tight pitch, with a lot riding on it for both teams.
Not Far Off Being A Must Win
Exeter City v Carlisle United
Two teams in the same situation (kind of), but in a completely different psychological place after the results on Monday.
Carlisle United finally won a game, after a torrid time with no victories in the league since 24th of October. It wasn’t enough to see them climb out of the relegation zone, though, and they will still need to scrape a lot more wins and draws to stay up. They’ve just signed Luke Armstrong from Harrogate Town, who will strengthen them.
I’m confused by Exeter City. They started the season ridiculously well and were top of the league early in September, but the slide has been violent ever since. They are now finding themselves in the relegation zone, after losing 3-2 to Reading on Monday. Individual moments of madness cost them a result in the game, and they probably created the better chances in the game.
This weekend I’m in the corner mood, and will once again go over on the 10.5 line. It’s a game that both teams will want – but more importantly need – to win in order to get themselves out of the worst relegation scrap.
Corners – again!?
Burton Albion v Wycombe Wanderers
While watching Ipswich Town’s game against Stoke City on the TV, I paid £10 to watch Bolton Wanderers host Burton Albion in League One. I often like to have two games running at the same time.
It was a game with mostly one-way traffic towards Burton’s goal, who defended well and resolutely throughout the 90 minutes. I’d say they were lucky not to concede more, and when you add that on top of the fact that they didn’t really create anything of note themselves, a defeat was the correct outcome in the end.
What we have seen since Dino Maamria was sacked, however, is that Burton are becoming more “corner friendly” again. Why that is, is not easy to explain. Sometimes it’s just a regression to the mean, meaning that they are returning to their normal levels, which have been higher or lower by pure chance. I think they are a fundamentally good team for corners, and so are Wycombe Wanderers. Of course, this game can turn out to be a real scrap with a lot of aerial duels and set plays, but I think it has the ingredients to go over on corners as well.
Conclusion
Here are my picks in League One round 27.
Over 10.5 corners in:
- Burton v Wycombe @ 2.12.
- Fleetwood v Derby @ 1.56.
- Exeter v Carlisle (no odds as of this writing, Friday afternoon).