(The arrival of Mark McGhee has seen an upturn in fortunes for Bristol Rovers)
In League Two, Bristol Rovers host Macclesfield Town at the Memorial Stadium. Rovers are in 16th place & eight points above Macclesfield. With the addition of Mark McGhee as manager Rovers have put together a fine run of form, in their last eight league matches they have won five, drawn two and suffered just one defeat away at 3rd place Shrewsbury Town. In this time they have built a strong defensive unit & have only conceded four goals, at home they are unbeaten in their last four having picked up two wins & two draws. Visitors Macclesfield are bottom of the form table having been beaten 8 times in their last 10 matches & only picking up two points & their away form has been dire all season with 12 defeats from 16 matches. We expect Bristol Rovers to run out comfortable winners against a poor Macclesfield side & provide punters with a 'weekend banker' at the odds of 4/6.
(Liverpool have just 4 wins from 12 home league games & Andy Carroll is hardly helping)
Liverpool take on inconsistent Arsenal at Anfield in the early kickoff on Saturday & there might be a temptation to think that their League Cup win will lead to them kicking on but the odds on offer of them winning this one are truly dreadful for a number of reasons. Liverpool have won just 4 of their 12 home league games & they have come against 3 relegation candidates in Bolton, Wolves & QPR plus an understrength Newcastle side. The Reds have won just 2 of 9 their last 9 league games & to put it bluntly really aren't that good & with captain & talisman Steven Gerrard injured on England duty they will undisputably be weakened. Arsenal are also coming off a morale boosting result with their extraordinary comeback in the North London derby over Spurs. The Gunners can't claim to be consistent but they eventually appear to have their first choice back 4 in place with Vermaelen & Sagna both fit & with Liverpool only scoring twice or more in 9 of their 25 games they might not be able to exploit Arsenal's greatest weakness. Liverpool are currently trading at around 2.1 (11/10) on Betfair & have to be a lay for anyone on the exchange at anything at 2.2 (5/4) or lower, their price is completely false when you look at their league form & lack of goals & it should be remembered they needed extra time & a penalty shootout to overcome a Championship side for that Cup win.
(Ipswich duo Michael Chopra & Jay Emmanuel-Thomas are both in red hot goalscoring form)
In the Championship, Ipswich Town entertain Bristol City at Portman Road, Ipswich are just below mid table whilst Bristol City have slipped towards the relegation places & are now only three points above the trap door. The Tractor Boys are having a disappointing season but had won four in a row before losing to the current form team Brighton last weekend. They impressively dished out hammerings to both West Ham & Cardiff City in these four wins; with ex-Premiership striker Michael Chopra bagging five goals. They are unbeaten in their last three home matches & have scored a impressive ten goals. Bristol City have really struggled in recent weeks & they current form reads five defeats in their last six matches. They are conceding goals at an alarming rate having conceded three times in four of their last five & away from home they haven't picked up any points on the road since December losing their last four, we can see Ipswich having too much firepower for a demoralised City side at a general price of 5/6.
Selections:
Bristol Rovers to beat Macclesfield Town at 4/6 (Various)
Lay Liverpool to beat Arsenal at 2.2 (5/4) & shorter on Betfair
Ipswich Town to beat Bristol City at 5/6 (Various)
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