Blackpool vs Cardiff City
In the Championship, clear leaders Cardiff City travel to Bloomfield Road to play Blackpool in the late kickoff televised on Sky Sports. Cardiff have an eight point lead & have 23 more points than managerless Blackpool who sit below mid-table in 15th.
(Captain Mark Hudson has been solid all season for Cardiff)
Cardiff will be disappointed with only a point last weekend against a resurgent Ipswich Town but they have taken 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five league games. In these games they've kept four clean sheets & the solid Mark Hudson & Ben Turner have been excellent, the Bluebirds had their difficulties on the road earlier in the season but they seem to have put them to bed recently with four wins & one draw with impressive victories over Blackburn Rovers & Leicester City. Peter Whittingham has always seemed a cut above most players in the Championship & supplies the vision & ammunition for others whilst the dependable Icelandic Aron Gunnarsson has popped up with some important goals.
Blackpool are looking for their 3rd manager of the season with Ian Holloway & strangely Michael Appleton moving onto Crystal Palace & Blackburn respectively. With all this chopping & changing results have suffered in recent weeks with three defeats & two draws in their last five league games. They still have the outstanding Tom Ince but it seems likely he will end up in the Premiership before January ends which only adds to the uncertainty & on Tuesday night they had to endure 120 minutes against a weakened Fulham side & the deflation of an 90 minute equaliser leading to a 2-1 extra time defeat.
Cardiff will look to take advantage of this uncertain period for Blackpool & cement their healthy lead at the summit at the attractive price of 9/5.
Doncaster Rovers vs Leyton Orient
We've been cheering on Doncaster with our money in several games recently & the grand old club can continue their superb recent form under newly appointed manager Brian Flynn as they take on Leyton Orient at the Keepmoat.
(Kyle Bennett & Tommy Spurr have contributed to some ace wingplay for Doncaster Rovers)
Doncaster have risen to 2nd place in League One & that has come on the back of a tremendous run of form where they've won 8 of their last 11 games & lost just once in that time with several late goals helping out - that's a sign of a well-drilled side with a good attitude. Of course being well-drilled is one thing but Doncaster also have a lot of quality about them not least down the wings with the full backs Tommy Spurr & Paul Quinn giving good support to Kyle Bennett & maybe the division's outstanding player David Cotterill. Cotterill has been prolific in terms of scoring goals & setting them up too & it's unsurprising when you think he was at Premier League side Swansea at this time last year.
Leyton Orient had a nice little run through November & early December where they won 5 in a row but they've tasted victory just once in their last 4 & have already been beaten 2-0 by Doncaster in the reverse fixture. The O's are the 5th lowest scorers in the league & come up against a decent Doncaster defence, their forwards Dave Mooney & veteran Kevin Lisbie aren't convincing for us & we reckon they'll be kept at bay here. 10/11 for Doncaster to win against an average Leyton Orient side looks a steal & should be backed, the loss of Dean Saunders as manager shouldn't hold back their promotion charge.
Selections:
Cardiff City to beat Blackpool at 9/5 (Various)
Doncaster Rovers to beat Leyton Orient at 10/11 (Various)
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