Stout Villa defence can Cage Canaries

They say things come in threes so we'll try to get 3 out of 3 again this Saturday as we again look at the best football bets there are to be had throughout the English league system. We know that your average punter likes to have a bet on the big Premier League games but the highly competitive nature of those games & high profile in general means they are often a betting minefield where betting firms don't offer too much in the way of value at all, that's why we like to look at the lower leagues where many wouldn't even think of having a bet often & there is certainly value to be had!

Aston Villa vs Norwich City

You wouldn't be marking this game down as a glamour fixture for the Premier League but it does have an interesting story as Villa manager Paul Lambert faces off against his former employers who he left rather acrimonious circumstances in the summer. Neither side are going too well with just one win each although Norwich's came last weekend with a shock win at Carrow Road over Arsenal & that has helped put them onto 6 points compared to Villa's 5, this is a game both sides will feel they can win.

(Ron Vlaar looks & plays the part of dominant central defender for Villa)

The two teams are the joint lowest scorers in the league, along with Sunderland who've played one less, with 6 goals apiece & that lack of cutting edge is meaning relegation is a perilously realistic outcome this year. Villa signed Christian Benteke to help out in the goals department but he's managed just one (in their only win v Swansea) & Darren Bent has looked lost at times with the paucity of quality service that he needs to thrive. Norwich's problem going forward is their utter predictability & total reliance on Grant Holt to score their goals but the positive is that regardless of the fact teams know what his game is, it is still difficult to contain him & he's scored in their last three games.

On the positive side for both sides are they have decent keepers (Guzan & Ruddy) & Villa have a pretty sturdy defence with Ron Vlaar having come into the centre of defence & impressed as he's taken up the captaincy whilst Stilian Petrov has been out with serious illness. Matt Lowton has made the step from League One to the top flight look relatively easy & the Villa back four have managed to keep them in games longer than maybe they've deserved. All in all this looks like being a tight little affair & the bookies look to have got it wrong by making over, rather than under, 2.5 goals the shorter odds, back the unders in this game between sides who've combined to score just 12 goals in 16 league games.

Cheltenham Town vs Exeter City

Down in League Two, a local derby takes place as Cheltenham Town entertain Exeter City at Whaddon Road. Cheltenham are 4th currently whilst Exeter have faltered in recent weeks & have dropped down to mid-table.

(Kaid Mohamed fires one in for Cheltenham)

Cheltenham are in fine form & have won five or their last eight league games & only suffered one defeat - away at 5th place Bradford City. Their latest victory was Tuesday night as they came from behind to beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1 thanks to a winner from Welsh substitute Kaid Mohamed, that was his second in three games & he is closing on leading scorer Shaun Harrad who has five league goals so far. Cheltenham have produced their best football in front of their home faithful with 4 wins & a draw in 7 games & have won 3 of their last 4 scoring two in each match.

Exeter City started made a flying start to life in League Two with 5 victories in their first 7 league games but since then their form has been turned on its head with five defeats & only one win at bottom side Barnet in their last seven. A sole strike from evergreen forward Jamie Cureton at Dagenham & Redbridge the other night at least ended a run of three games without a goal.

Cheltenham will be expected to take advantage of a confidence hit Exeter side & continue their chase of league leaders Gillingham at the best price of 11/10 with Coral.

Brentford vs Hartlepool United

League One sees Brentford host managerless Hartlepool United at Griffin Park. Brentford are in 9th place after a solid start to the season whilst Hartlepool are rooted to the foot of the table.

(Brentford's star youngster Harry Forrester will fancy his chance of scoring against Hartlepool)

Brentford have been a Jekyll & Hyde side so far this season in terms of their home & away form - on the road they are winless with only five points from a possible 21 but at home they have been great with five wins out of seven matches. Clayton Donaldson & midfielder Harry Forrester have been in fine goalscorer form for the Bees with 10 goals between them & they will be relishing the prospect of facing a leaky Hartlepool defence.

Hartlepool's manager Neale Cooper resigned after a 2-1 defeat against Bury on Tuesday as they raked up their ninth league defeat of the season, there aren't really any positives for Hartlepool currently & already they face a hard slog to competitive this season. Their away form is awful with only one point from seven matches & they have been inflicted to a number of heavy defeats leading to a record of on average 2.29 goals shipped per game.

Brentford's terrific home form should continue at the expense of sorry Hartlepool team & they should be first on all punters accumulator lists this weekend at reasonable odds of 4/6 with Coral.

Selections:
Under 2.5 goals in Aston Villa vs Norwich City game at 11/10 (Various)
Cheltenham Town to beat Exeter City at 11/10 (Coral)
Brentford to beat Hartlepool United at 4/6 (Coral)

Accurate Shots can beat wayward Grecians

There's no let up in the new football league season as we go straight from the opening weekend into midweek action & we're going for a home team double on Tuesday night with odds against available on both our picks.

Aldershot Town vs Exeter City

(Troy Brown organises the Shots defence & popped up with a goal vs Plymouth)

In League Two, Aldershot Town entertain Exeter City at the Recreation Ground, although still very early days in the new season Aldershot have made a confident start whilst Exeter, after relegation & a number of first team players leaving in the summer, are still trying to fit together.

Aldershot are looking to build on their 11th place finish last season & have added a number of experienced players to their young squad. Defenders Anthony Tonkin & Troy Brown should shore up the defence & they will be hoping striker Craig Reid can fire in the goals. Confidence will be high in the camp after two good away performances against Wolves in the Capital One cup, where they only lost 7-6 on pens after a 1-1 draw, & a comfortable 2-0 victory over Plymouth.

Exeter, relegated from League One, have had a summer of change with Richard Duffy, James Dunne, Troy Archibald-Henville, Daniel Nardiello (leading goalscorer), David Noble & Richard Logan all leaving after playing 30+ games last season. Again they have also brought in experience in Kevin Amankwaah & Tom Doherty whilst re-signing veterans Matt Oakley & Jamie Cureton. But with all the upheaval it's obvious that the side will need a number of weeks to get up to full speed & this is shown in their two results so far having lost against Crystal Palace 2-1 (no disgrace) & then suffering a heavy 3-0 defeat at home to Morecambe at the weekend. Aldershot are usually strong at home & will be buoyant by a good couple of games are a reasonable price of 5/4 to beat an Exeter side who lost 17 of their 23 away games last season albeit being in League One. It can take some time to mould players into a team & Exeter could be side to avoid punting on for the first few weeks of the season.

Watford vs Ipswich Town

(Gianfranco Zola (+ a load of Udinese loanees) is trying to bring some Italian flair to Watford)

Jumping up a couple of divisions to the Championship we think that Watford can capitalise on an outstanding finish to their first game of the season by winning at home against Paul Jewell's Ipswich. Watford were 2-1 down with minutes remaining before coming back to win 3-2 against rivals Crystal Palace on Saturday, sending their fans into raptures. The outer London team have been taken over by the owners of Udinese & Gianfranco Zola has been put in charge & given 4 players on loan from the Italian side with two making an immediate impact as the scorers of the two late goals on Saturday (Abdi & Vydra). As well as the Udinese loanees they've also brought in two from Spanish side Granada & made permanent signings of ex-Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia & ('One Size') Fitz Hall from QPR - they may do more business before transfer deadline day but either way they've made a move & will be pushing for the playoffs.

Ipswich tried to be positive in the summer by moving on some old timers & replacing them with younger counterparts including signing keeper Scott Loach from rivals here Watford. We however just don't see that they've moved forwards in terms of quality & they lost both league games last year to Watford (both 2-1) & Paul Jewell is a candidate for an early job loss if his side go on a losing run like they did last year (11 losses in 15 games between October & January). Ipswich managed to salvage a point against promotion candidates Blackburn on Saturday but that was a home game & they were rather fortunate with the equaliser coming from a Jason Lowe own goal, only Michael Chopra got into double figures in terms of goals last year for the Tractor Boys & he needs more support.

Ipswich only won six times on the road last year in the league & are facing an improving Watford side (only lost one of last 13 last year) who've upgraded their side & are coming off the back of a dramatic win. The indications are that Watford should win this & odds of 5/4 are excellent value, we're going to double up the home sides & hope the away teams get a little travel sick.

Selections:
Aldershot Town to beat Exeter City at 5/4 (BetVictor)
Watford to beat Ipswich Town at 5/4 (Bet365)

Double on above selections (Aldershot & Watford) at odds of around 4/1