Home and Away: Latics misery to continue in Yeovil clash

5Feb 2013

Betfair

Jonno Turner picks two domestic clashes to bring home the bacon in todays Home and Away column.

We're off to the Midlands for our first pick of the day - and Coventry welcome Crewe to the Ricoh Arena in the regional final first leg of the Football League Trophy.

This competition is much maligned at an early stage, but for sides who make it this far the possibility of silverware and a trip to Wembley becomes very, very real, and you can expect both sides to be going great guns here.

Mark Robins side have home advantage this evening ahead of a reverse fixture in two weeks time, and the Sky Blues will be desperate to give themselves a head start on that away trip with a positive result here.

Four unbeaten will have confidence high in the home camp, and seven goals in that time shows that the hosts have more than enough attacking quality in the likes of Leon Clarke and Stephen Elliott to punish their guests here.

A 2-1 victory at Sheffield United on Saturday was a huge result for Robins' side, who moved into eighth place in the table - just one point outside the play-offs.

Crewe travel to this game in patchy form which has seen them win just one of their last four league outings, and boss Steve Davis will be keen to avoid defeat in this clash.

The Railwaymen sit a comfortable 12th in the table, but have won two of their last seven away from Gresty Road, and that travel sickness threatens to derail their campaign.

In light of that, Davis will be looking for his side to keep within touching distance of their opponents in this game - and complete the job on their own patch in a fortnight.

But just one clean sheet in 12 on the road suggests that the Alex may struggle to hold out the Coventry attack this evening.

Coventry are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings with Crewe on their own patch, and I fancy them to come out on top in this first leg tie.

Bet 1: Coventry (HOME) @ 1.92

Focusing on a League One clash now, as managerless Oldham welcome Yeovil to Boundary Park, with the hosts looking to get their league form back on track.

Paul Dickov stepped aside from the Latics helm earlier this week, following a miserable run which has seen his side go nine League One games without a win.

An impressive cup run has tempered that poor run somewhat, and the home side have a clash against Everton to look forward to following their dismissal of Liverpool in the last round - but they now sit just one point outside the drop zone, and have played a game more than their counterparts which will be alarming to the Latics faithful.

A 3-1 loss at Walsall on Saturday will have knocked confidence further in the Athletic camp, and it appears that the nature of that loss forced Dickov's hand as he left his post.

Yeovil, on the contrary, go into this game in impressive form - and sit on the edge of the play-offs following five straight league wins.

Gary Johnson has quietly led the Glovers up the table, and you have to admire the job he is doing at a club which has struggled in recent years.

Victories over Sheffield United, MK Dons and Brentford in the last fortnight has underlined just how comfortable this Yeovil side is when pitted against the big boys of this division - and they have more than enough in their locker to come away from Boundary Park with three points this evening.

Three clean sheets from their last four outings shows that Johnson has got his defence playing out of their skins, and that should fare them well against a Latics side which has scored just two in their last four league games.

Bet 2: Yeovil Town (AWAY) @ 2.84