League One Betting: Westley's back, so back the under 2.5 goals

13Apr 2013

Betfair

No one wears a v-neck sweater and blazer quite like Graham Westley, but our League One man Alan Dudman cares little for fashion (once on owner of a pair of cowboy boots) and is hoping the returning Stevenage boss can deliver on the under goals again.

Stevenage Borough 3.15 v Yeovil Town 2.42, the draw 3.45

Now that Graham Westley is back at Stevenage as manager, it might be worth latching on to the Borough for under 2.5 goals from now until the end of the season. Westley has already shown his intent with his latest stint at the Lamex, two games in charge and two clean sheets.

The 45-year-old has hallmarks in his side, which are organisation, strength at the back and be resilient. The Hertfordshire club drew 0-0 with Portsmouth last Saturday but secured a 1-0 win over the Hartlepool the match before. Neither game represented a free flowing football affair, but it's great news for backers of not many goals.

Yeovil are looking at the play-offs now rather than an automatic promotion chance and are currently in a run of one defeat from their last eight matches. Although not quite at their best at the weekend, they beat Shrewsbury 2-1 thanks again to a Paddy Madden special. The 23-year-old forward has now hit 23 goals this season to rubber stamp his position as League One's best striker.

The Glovers are the better footballing team and have the more dangerous players from a creative point of view. However, Westley guided Stevenage to the play-offs in a previous spell at the club by essentially playing a 4-5-1 and pressing in the midfield. I am hoping to get to half-time with no goals, which gives the chance to trade on 0-0 and 1-0 scorelines. Overall, the draw looks most tempting - which of course can be greened up as long as the home team can keep Madden quiet.

Recommended bets:

Back 0-0 @ 13.0

Back the draw @ 3.45

Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.95

Carlisle United 2.90 v Preston North End 2.70, the draw 3.50

Carlisle are safe in the division, whilst underachievers Preston can boast the same. With four games left North End boss Simon Grayson has urged his players to put in a series of strong performances, and they have done under their new manager, with 16 points from 10 matches and a run of five clean sheets during that spell.

The Deepdale club have been a good under 2.5 goals punting medium recently, with all but one of their last 11 outings resulting in a success for lovers of that market. Saturday's 2-0 victory over Oldham highlighted the style of a Preston win these days - not pretty to watch but effective and hard to score against.

Carlisle have produced a run of results in the nick of time, and perhaps have saved Greg Abbott as manager for next season. I hope so, I like Abbott, but they have also underachieved a little.

The Cumbrians produced one of the shocks of the season in midweek by beating league leaders Doncaster away

from home, with their game plan of stopping Rovers playing working a treat.

With both granted League One football next season, there might be a case of the two teams cancelling each other out. I will always back Preston in the unders department, although I am aware of the unpredictable nature of Carlisle.

Recommended bets:

Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.90

Back the draw @ 3.50

Shrewsbury Town 4.0 v Bournemouth 1.98, the draw 3.60

This looks a potentially tricky game for Bournemouth, who are on a brilliant run of six successive wins. I have said on a few occasions here how the Cherries are looking better now they have players returning from injury, which has allowed star winger Matt Ritchie to hit form at the right time - he bagged a double against Notts County on Saturday during their 3-1 win.

The south coast club are still eyeing the title, and with third-placed Brentford winning on Wednesday (the Bees have a game in hand), this again looks a must win match.

Bouremouth have kept three clean sheets on the trot away from home (all 0-1 wins), and manager Eddie Howe described their narrow success at Colchester a few weeks ago as their best display of the season. Howe's team are sound defensively but also have game-changers up front.

Shrewsbury have had a few injuries but were on a run of four matches unbeaten prior to last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Yeovil. On-loan forward Tom Eaves has hit six goals from eight, but Salop have conceded in four of their last five games at home which swings the bet to Bournemouth's advantage.

Recommended bets:

Back Bournemouth to win @ 1.98

Back Bournemouth to win 0-1 @ 7.0

Brentford 1.70 v Portsmouth 5.30, the draw 3.85

Brentford have one of the best home records in the League One, and can boast 13 victories (a division high) and just two defeats this term. Bees boss Uwe Rosler has moulded an exciting young team who play football and they gained their first away win in two months on Wednesday with a 2-0 success over Crewe.

Pompey will head to London with a game plan to stay in the match for as long as possible, whilst Brentford have only conceded 19 goals in 21 games at Griffin Park, and they also have a habit of scoring late on - much to my annoyance.

Recommended bets:

Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.88

Back Brentford to win 1-0 @ 7.0