Toon Army versus Canaries? It hardly seems fair!

We're back to weekend football action after a rather packed midweek with lower league matches & plenty of top flight sides in European action, we've picked out a couple of bets as we look for quality to prevail over a couple of sides that could be in for long & unhappy seasons. You can keep up to date with all of our latest blog posts by following us on Twitter @likebuyingmoney by checking us out on there or by clicking the Follow button above.

Newcastle United vs Norwich City

(Demba Ba's scored goals & goals & goals when played through the middle - maybe he has a point?)

Backing sides after they've competed in Europe in midweek is usually a sure way to the poor house but at only just a shade of odds on Newcastle United look value to beat Norwich who've been pretty disappointing so far this season. Chris Hughton returns to Newcastle without a win under his belt in the league with his East Anglian side, they took a beating on the opening day from Fulham & have since played out three rather dour draws against Spurs, QPR & West Ham. The big positive here is that Alan Pardew showed what his priorities are by fielding a second string side in Portugal in the Europa League meaning he clearly sees this as a game he's desperate to win.

We felt that Norwich really over performed last year as they don't have an awful lot of quality throughout the side & tend to only have one tactic which is getting it out wide & whipping in crosses to star striker Grant Holt. They didn't lose any players in the summer but that was because no other club wanted them & the transfer activity they undertook themselves didn't impress us with Robert Snodgrass from Leeds maybe their biggest piece of business.

Newcastle burst into a bit of life against Everton on Monday playing some good football in periods, they were certainly fortunate to get a point thanks to some pretty awful work by the linesman on two occasions, but overall they showed more than enough to be strong favourites to win at home here. Newcastle can gain their first win since the opening day at odds of 4/5 - they are as short as 8/15 elsewhere so punters should get their bets on early before this ace value disappears. Striker Demba Ba & his agent have been making plenty of noise in the media but Newcastle can cope with that on the pitch & don't let that put you off a golden wager.

Bury vs MK Dons

(Ryan Lowe returns to his old Gigg Lane haunting ground)

League One sees bottom of the table Bury entertain MK Dons at the Gigg Lane Stadium, the home side have made an awful start with four defeats & no victories in their seven league matches. Last season the Dons gained 80 points to Bury's 56, so averaging over 1/2 a point more per game & the gap in quality between the two sides looks to be even bigger this year as Bury just haven't been able to get a thing going so far. It looked like a battling draw away to big boys Sheffield United might be able to kickstart Bury's season but they then went & got thumped 3-0 by Tranmere on the same weekend that MK Dons put in a convincing display, controlling possession when beating highflyers Yeovil 1-0.

The only worry with MK Dons in this one is that they haven't really hit the goalscoring trail yet with 7 in their 7 league games & only the youngster Daniel Powell having hit the back of the net twice - he only scored 6 league goals in 41 appearances last year so they can't be relying on him too heavily. Luckily they are up against a porous Bury defence that have already conceded 12 this season & let 79 goals in last year & they've only scored 5 themselves this time around. Bury just don't have a proven goalscorer & they look in serious danger of relegation this year, they could come face to face with ex-favourite Ryan Lowe as he's now with the Dons. At odds of Evens MK Dons should be backed to heap more misery upon the Shakers.

Selections:
Newcastle United to beat Norwich City at 4/5 (Bet365 & Bodog)
MK Dons to beat Bury at Evens (General)

League One Antepost bets - Bookie 'Wrecking Crewe'

League One looks to be a pretty interesting division this year with Sheffield United as the favourites with them still in the League after failure in the playoff final & other fancied sides including MK Dons & newly promoted Swindon. Portsmouth have come down & will start with basically no players & a minus 10 point deduction & continuing uncertainty over their future, they look to be in serious trouble already & we couldn't put anyone off a bet for them to be relegated at short odds however we don't like waiting that long for relatively small returns.

(Steve Davis will be looking for his promoted Crewe side to continue their form into League One)

Swindon would probably be our picks for outright glory as they have momentum after promotion & seem to have made some astute signings, plus an impressive display against Brighton in the League Cup also breeds confidence however we think a superior bet may lay on the handicap market with Crewe Alexandra. Crewe have one of the most impressive youth setups in the country, producing numerous players who've gone on to make the big time & their latest exciting player Nick Powell has gone to join Manchester United in exchange for £4m into Crewe's pot. Crewe came up through the playoffs from last year & they blooded plenty of youngsters who have stayed at the club with Shaun Miller the only other player of note to leave.

Crewe have a young manager of real promise in Steve Davis & he's prepared to adopt unorthodox measures & instil discipline to get the right results. Crewe will continue to bring through quality youngsters but have spent some of their Nick Powell windfall on players to bolster the squad including a much needed left back in Gregor Robertson from Chesterfield, centre back Mark Ellis from Torquay & also Mathias Pogba (brother of Paul) who scored twice on debut in the League Cup. Crewe will need to score more goals if they are to challenge higher up the table but Pogba could be a real gem of a signing & they have so much potential improvement in the team thanks to so many youngsters that a 25 point head start on the handicap with BetVictor looks a very good bet.

(Ryan Lowe should offer a real challenge for League One's top scorer honours)

For a top scorer in the division we can't look any further than MK Dons' Ryan Lowe who is as short as 12/1 (& favourite) with Ladbrokes yet as big as 20/1 elsewhere. Lowe signed for Sheffield Wednesday last year for over £100k but ended up not playing too often as competition was fierce, he's come to MK Dons with the promise of action & is a proven goalscorer at this level. He scored 49 goals in 90 league appearances for a pretty poor Bury outfit which brought about his move to Wednesday & he'll have some quality service from midfield here. Dons manager Karl Robinson is committed to passing, attacking football (they were the league's 2nd top scorers with 84 goals last year) & that means Lowe is in the right side if he wants to challenge for this honour. Darren Potter & Luke Chadwick should be the key midfielders who provide the service for Lowe & at 33 years old he will want it to be quality stuff as he won't want to run around too much!

We like Ryan Lowe's chances even more because of the players in front of him in the betting: Chris Porter & Richard Cresswell are both at Sheffield United & could share the goals between them plus the club struggled for goals once Ched Evans was out of the team thanks to his conviction for rape; Andy Williams has signed for Swindon from Yeovil & will be in an attacking side but Di Canio switched his strikers around a fair bit last year & could do the same again; Matt Tubbs & Lewis Grabban are two serious threats but will likely have to share goals between them for an attacking looking Bournemouth side. Therefore with Ryan Lowe as the main man at MK Dons he looks the best bet for top scorer at 20/1.

Selections:

Crewe Alexandra on the handicap with +25 points at 18/1 (BetVictor)
Ryan Lowe League One top scorer at 20/1 (BlueSquare & 888Sport) 1/4 odds each way 1-2-3-4