Villa can make the most of Swans' travel woes

With Christmas & New Year over the last of the festive fixtures take place with sides looking to start the year on a high as the business end of the season draws ever closer. As usual we have searched through the football league & found the best bets available. As ever any thoughts & opinions are welcome so please join us on Twitter (click the button up above!) as we discuss the latest sporting stories on a daily basis.

(The 'Ginger Mourinho' has his sights on the Championship)

In League One, high flying Sheffield Wednesday play Tranmere Rovers at Hillsborough. The Owls sit 3rd just one point behind bitter rivals Sheffield United in their quest to gain automatic promotion to the Championship whilst Tranmere are languishing in mid-table. Wednesday's home form is formidable with 26 points out of a possible 30 with only Huddersfield & Brentford managing to pick up draws. In these games they have scored an impressive 23 goals & have kept clean sheets in half of them. Their current form reads five wins, two draws & one defeat in their last eight league matches & they come into the match on the back of a 2-0 away victory over Preston North End. Visitors Tranmere are struggling of late with five defeats & only two victories in their last eight league games. Their away form has seen six defeats in their ten matches & they have suffered three defeats in a row against Stevenage, Exeter City & Scunthorpe. We are expecting a one sided affair with Wednesday running out comfortable winners at the reasonable price of 4/6.

(Will loanee Micah Evans be celebrating another goal against Macclesfield Town?)

Down in League Two, Accrington Stanley host Macclesfield Town at the Crowd Ground. The fixture sees two teams in mid-table & both wanting to start the year positively & push towards the play-off places. They are in the mist of contrasting current form with Accrington unbeaten in their last eight league games with five wins & three draws whilst Macclesfield victory on New Year's Eve was their first win in eight league games (three draws & four defeats). Accrington look likely to reward on-loan Blackburn striker Micah Evans with a starting berth after his equaliser against Hereford on Friday night. Their home fans have seen six victories so far this season & three in a row with them scoring eight goals in the process. Macclesfield have lost seven of their ten league away games & have failed to score in 60% of these matches. Their last point on the road came back in October (1-0 victory over Crewe) & since then it's been three defeats in a row. We feel that Accrington will be too strong for poor travellers Macclesfield & take the three points at the best price of 10/11 with Betfred.

(Aston Villa will hope Stephen Ireland can put his obvious talent to use on the pitch)

Finally in the Premier League we think that Aston Villa can kick on from their great win against Chelsea (we were keen on the lay of Chelsea) & beat poor travellers Swansea City at home. Swansea have just 6 goals away from home & have concede 19 in their 9 away games, they've picked up 3 draws but lost the rest & although they battled back against Spurs on Saturday that was at the Liberty Stadium & they are simply a different side on the road. Villa often have their fans on their backs early in games but the support should be good here as they get a heroesn welcome after their exploits in the capital, they've only lost one game against 'weaker' opposition all year with their other losses against the big boys. Darren Bent & Gabriel Agbonhlahor will be back & able to link up again & we're keen to take the odds of 10/11 for the Villa win. Even Alex McLeish must know they need to capitalise on the feel good factor of the Chelsea win & we're hoping he can get a bit more of an attacking philosophy going, if Stephen Ireland can get his game in order he's outstanding & we think backing Villa to win 3-0 is worth a sneaky bet too with their confidence up & Swansea's away goal scoring being non-existent.

Selections:
Sheffield Wednesday to beat Tranmere Rovers at 4/6 (Coral)
Accrington Stanley to beat Macclesfield Town at 10/11 (Betfred)
The above double pays just over 2/1
Aston Villa to beat Swansea City at 10/11 (Coral)
Aston Villa to beat Swansea City 3-0 at 14/1 (various)