Saturday League 1 and 2 Tips: Hughes stalemate on cards in weekend 7/1 and 9/2 accas | OneFootball

EFL League One & League Two

Mark Hughes is staring relegation in the face with Carlisle

Defences dominate this weekend's EFL tipsheet and Alan Dudman has a pair of accas which include Mark Hughes' Carlisle...

Betfair Saturday Football Superboost

It is a credit to Chris Wood's excellence this season that he is up there with Erling Haaland as one of the biggest attacking threats in the Premier League at the moment. Wood's Nottingham Forest travel to Ipswich while Haaland will lead the line for Man City at home to Brighton Saturday.

Betfair have boosted the odds on the pair each having one or more shots on target from 1/2 to 1/1 for this week's Saturday Football Superboost. With seven between them in their last six games we reckon it has a good chance of landng.

League One

Leg 1: Bolton Wanderers v Stockport County, Saturday 12:30: Back BTTS 'Yes' @ 4/5

Bolton are providing a ton of entertainment and backers of Over 2.5 and BTTS have done well with the Trotters of late.

Save for the 0-0 at Wrexham at the beginning of the month, six of Bolton's last seven have seen the BTTS backers collect and four of those have been Over 3.5 games.

Bolton's home tally of F34 and A27 is one of the highest in the division and they've earned a home xG of 1.75 this term.

Stockport have lost just one of their last 11 league games (W7 D3), though that sole defeat came on the road in a 2-0 loss to Cambridge United in February and are surely good for a goal here. The BTTS 'Yes' at 4/5 could arguably be a touch shorter.

KEY OPTA STAT: Bolton have won each of their last four home league games and could win five in succession for the first time since February 2023.

Leg 2: Blackpool v Leyton Orient, Saturday 15:00: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 20/23

Leyton Orient's form has completely tailed off. Richie Wellens' side were looking like big play-off contenders but they've hit the buffers and have lost five on the spin.

They failed to score at Rotherham recently and even went down to former O's man Kevin Nolan's Northampton last Saturday in a game they were 0-2 at the break.

Blackpool are hard to fancy for a win here. They've collected far too many draws at Bloomfield Road this term with 11 and Steve Bruce was in honest mood following Tuesday's win against struggling Cambridge by saying: "Our best performances have been away from home and they have seen us stutter and we haven't got we enough wins. That's the frustration."

The O's have a poor record in this fixture and have failed to win any of their last 16 away league games against Blackpool (D6 L10), since a 1-0 victory in February 1929. The draw could be a possible here but the safer play is to go unders, especially with Orient lacking so much confidence.

KEY OPTA STAT: Blackpool have failed to win any of their last four home league games against sides from London (D3 L1), since a 6-1 win against QPR in the Championship in March 2023.

Leg 3: Rotherham v Exeter City, Saturday 15:00: Back Rotherham @ 4/5

Rotherham United have lost just one of their last seven home league games against Exeter City (W4 D2) scoring 4+ goals in two of their last three matches on home soil against the Grecians, and that good record can hopefully net us a win with the 4/5 on the hosts here.

The Millers have generally been a better team at home with nine wins, and while far from an ideal campaign, their defensive record at the New York with just 17 conceded is one of the better ones in the mid-table ranks.

Last weekend's 1-0 loss at Wrexham prompted Steve Evans to say: "The best team lost. We've had more than 55 per cent possession. more opportunities in the final third, the two best chances."

It was a pretty ugly game according to reports and Rotherham do the ugly things quite well. They can justify their price here against Exeter - who have won just one of their last seven away league games (D2 L4), failing to score more than once in any of those matches.

KEY OPTA STAT: Rotherham United have lost just one of their last seven home league games against Exeter City (W4 D2) scoring 4+ goals in two of their last three matches on home soil against the Grecians.

League Two

Leg 1: Bradford City v Tranmere Rovers, Saturday 15:00: Back Bradford @ 8/13

Bradford suffered a rare blip at Gillingham last Saturday with a 1-0 loss and their run of four straight wins was thus ended and it was a first for the Gills with back-to-back home wins since September.

The Bantams deserved something from the game with a better xG at 1.48 compared to Gillingham's 0.65 and they still possess the most impressive home record in the division with just 10 conceded and 31 scored and a sole defeat.

Tranmere's last nine away league defeats to Bradford have seen them fail to score - they're unbeaten in their last 14 visits when scoring at least once (W8 D6) and that is a shocking stat if you fancy them to score here, which I don't.

Bradford have won each of their last 10 home league games, keeping a clean sheet in each of their last six during that run. The Bantams haven't kept seven clean sheets in consecutive home league games since a run of eight between December 1953 and March 1954 and are impossible to oppose here as 4/7 favs.

KEY OPTA STAT: Tranmere have lost 10 of their last 11 away leagues games (D1), a run which has seen Rovers net just six goals in total.

Leg 2: Carlisle United v AFC Wimbledon, Saturday 15:00: Back Under 1.5 Goals @ 13/8

It's pretty hard to envisage Carlisle scoring at the moment and Saturday's heartbreaking 95th minute goal conceded against Harrogate just about summed up their season.

Mark Hughes has been outspoken about what has happened before he took the job, namely recruitment and players clearly not fit to last the 90 minutes, but they have drawn each of their last three home league games in succession, last drawing four in-a-row at Brunton Park between April and August 2021 (five games).

A recent 1-1 against leaders Walsall was a superb result and they simply just have to defend in the hope of nicking a goal as they lack any sort of quality in the final third.

The Dons have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four league games against Carlisle, having conceded eight goals across their first three against the Cumbrians and are known for their miserly ways, and I was half-tempted to play the 0-0 on the Correct Score market at 11/2 on the Sportsbook.

KEY OPTA STAT: AFC Wimbledon have failed to win any of their last six away league games (D5 L1), with those matches witnessing just five goals scored in total.

Leg 3: Colchester United v Fleetwood Town, Saturday 15:00: Back Colchester @ 1/1

Fleetwood have won each of their last two away league games, one more than across their prior 10 fixtures on the road combined so are no back numbers here, but Colchester look very organised at the moment.

Danny Cowley's team are very miserly in Essex with just 13 conceded at home all season and that defensive record ranks alongside AFC Wimbledon and Notts County.

Colchester are unbeaten across their last eight league games played on a Saturday (W6 D2), with five of their six wins during that time coming via a one-goal margin including three recent 1-0 successes.

Recommended bets

Back the League One treble 0.5pt @ 9/2

Back the League Two treble 0.5pt @ 7/1

Multiples P & L

2024-2025: -4.00pts *Advised to 0.5pt staked unless stated otherwise