Boom, boom, boom! We celebrated the start of 2016-17 with a fantastic 9/2 winning treble on the BTTS market last weekend. And we’re back to hopefully land another on Saturday.
As with last weekend, the outcomes of those three matches are about as relevant as a modern footballer’s contract length. As long as all six teams are on the scoreboard come 5PM, we’ll be laughing for the second Saturday on the spin.
Come on!
Fleetwood Town v Scunthorpe United
Graham Alexander’s Scunthorpe started the campaign in stunning season last weekend with a 3-1 home win over newly promoted Bristol Rovers. They can be confident about securing another positive result at they make the trip to Highbury, but they shouldn’t expect things all their own way against a spirited Fleetwood.
The visitors just missed out on the play-offs last term, but they did score 32 times on their travels. Even with Paddy Madden fighting his way back to fitness, the Iron should be confident about scoring here, especially after the hosts conceded in their opener at Northampton Town.
Having said that, Uwe Rosler’s side have plenty of potential going forward, and will want a big performance to open their home league run, particularly after Wednesday’s result against Leeds. They did pick up a 2-1 win in last year’s corresponding fixture too so, even with the changes in both squads, that could give them a slight mental advantage.
It’s unlikely to be the highest scoring game of the afternoon, but there should be action at both ends. Back both teams to score.
BTTS Yes @ 5/6 with Coral
Colchester United v Cambridge United
Having opened the campaign with a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool before a 4-0 cup loss at Brighton, it appears that 2016-17 is going to treat Colcheter United in very much the same fashion as 2015-16 did. And that means goals, and plenty of them.
Playing in a division below, as well as a change of manager, should allow the Eagles to achieve better results this time around. However, they will need to acclimatise, which is something that visiting Cambridge can hope to capitalise on too.
Like Colchester, Sean Derry’s men opened the season with a 1-1 league draw, although they did win their midweek cup clash albeit after extra-time. Barry Corr, Joe Pigott and co will be hoping to score plenty of goals this term, and this could be a fantastic opportunity for those attacking players.
On the other hand, we just don’t see them keeping out the hosts. Both teams are probably stronger in attack than defence; let’s hope that transpires to goals.
BTTS Yes @ 8/11 with Coral
Tranmere Rovers v Eastleigh
Conference side Tranmere have made a fantastic start to 2016-17, winning each of their opening fixtures via 2-0 scorelines. But while Gary Brabin’s men will be confident of completing the hat-trick, they should expect a trickier test against another side gunning for promotion this term.
Eastleigh did drop two points at Braintree on Tuesday, but that makes it two BTTS winners from two for Chris Todd’s men. Including friendlies that run is five on the bounce, which gives us even more reason to fancy goals in this one.
Tranmere will be expected to score, especially with the trio of Andy Cook, James Norwood and Conner Jennings all looking up for the campaign ahead. However, they can’t keep registering shutouts forever, and this is likely to be where their run comes to an end.
We’d probably edge towards a home win, but a score draw wouldn’t surprise. The smarter money is with goals.
BTTS Yes @ 3/4 with Coral
A £10 treble pays £55.40 with Coral
