3/19 Recap: With international friendlies imminent, there is going to be a lot of lower league football coming up. Monday was a fantastic precursor of what’s to come for me this week. Doncaster Rovers made me wait, but in the end, rewarded my faith in keeping with them despite the change in line. John Marquis’ delightful double was capped off by a keeper nutmeg that is just mean. But while League One brought me another lower tier win in England, I’m still searching for win one in Germany’s second tier. Greuther Furth nicked a late consolation goal against Erzgebirge Aue, but it was all for naught as my pick ’em pick fell level on points for the relegation playoff spot. So what will I do today with yet another entirely lower league lineup, go with the English league of course!
3/19 Results:
My Picks: Greuther Furth 1 Erzgebirge Aue 0 (Furth PICK [-115])
Doncaster Rovers 2 Bradford City 1 (Doncaster -0.5 goals [+125])
Actual Results: Erzgebirge Aue 2 Greuther Furth 1
Doncaster Rovers 2 Bradford City 0
Let’s go find us some more League One Legends folks!
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE
Fleetwood Town @ Rochdale (3:45 PM ET/EFL iFollow)
Yesterday’s results find Doncaster and Bradford smack dab in the middle of the League One table. That is a place that the two teams playing this afternoon, Fleetwood Town and Rochdale, would kill to be at the moment.
Rochdale got a bit of notoriety recently by taking Spurs to a replay in the FA Cup. An injury-time goal stunned the now semi-finalists sending the third-tier side to a dream match at Wembley. Sure, the 6-1 massacre that followed was more nightmare than a dream, but the effort they put forth was noble. However, that run may have potentially doomed them in the league. They currently sit in the League One drop zone at the moment but have three games in hand over their competitors. The games in hand are nice and all, but when your league form is mediocre chasing points with games in quick succession is never fun.
One of the teams directly above Rochdale is Fleetwood Town. The Cod Army have their heads just above water at the moment, safe only on goal difference above Northampton Town. Fleetwood forced a shock replay of their own against Leicester City in the FA Cup, but only have one win in 2018 otherwise.
Rochdale have been the better of bad sides of late, making them being a half goal favorite (per Bovada) a tempting prospect. I would prefer a prop to a spread bet in this one, but nothing jumps out at me price wise and just can’t take a draw, even with the two club’s recent history (three draws in past five matches). Give me the Dale laying the wood.
PREDICTION: Rochdale 2 Fleetwood Town 1 (Rochdale -0.5 goals [-115])
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE
Shrewsbury Town @ Northampton Town (3:45 PM ET/EFL iFollow)
As I stated earlier, both clubs in the above pick are candidates for the drop to League Two. Sandwiched in between them is Northampton Town, a team that is going to need a lot of help in their fight to survive in League One.
That is mostly because Northampton must first deal with Shrewsbury Town, arguably the hottest team at the moment in League One. The Shrews already have a record win haul with 22 and have won their last four on the trot. Barring a massive setback they’ll at the very worst be in the promotion playoffs. Shrewsbury Town has never been above League One in the current Football League format.
Northampton’s woes are many, but the most damning is their home form. 10 home losses are the most in the division. They’ve nearly been doubled up (15 goals for, 28 against) at Sixfields Stadium. In contrast, Shrewsbury has won their last five road contests.
Unlike the first match, this one was pretty easy for me to come to a decision. Shrewsbury is half a goal favorite (per Bovada) at even money. Since I feel that is too simple to just go with that, I’ll take the added prop of Shrewsbury to score in BOTH halves.
PREDICTION: Shrewsbury Town 2 Northampton Town 0 (Shrewsbury -0.5 goals [EVEN], Shrewsbury scores in both halves [+290])
If you have any games you’d like me to pick over the week you can contact me on Twitter @TREVORutley. In addition to the available media listed for each game, be sure to try out our Gameview service while watching as well. Also, here is a link for my results throughout and the points system. Cheers!