воскресенье, 24 августа 2014 г.

Big Saturday Multiple: Back Orient to make most of home advantage

Russell Slade's side have recovered well from an opening day loss

Jonno Turner scans the bottom three English divisions and comes up with a treble to kick start the weekend in style...

It's been a miserable start to the season for relegated Fulham, and they're off to Derby County today, looking for their first point since their drop from the Premier League.

Back to back 1-0 losses have followed up an opening day defeat to Ipswich Town, and that leaves the Craven Cottage side languishing second bottom in the second tier, and on the road to becoming the whipping boys of the division.

And their form on the road is particularly poor. Just one victory since Boxing Day away from West London - a run consisting 13 outings - indicates that Felix Magath's side might struggle in this clash, as they make their way north up the M1.

Hosts Derby line up for this encounter having stumbled themselves, though. A 1-0 home win over Rotherham United was just the ticket for the first game of the season - but the Rams followed up with a goalless stalemate against Sheffield Wednesday, and a loss at Charlton last week.

But Steve McLaren's side are at least strong at Pride Park - and four wins from their last five in front of a home crowd will give them much confidence today.

County sit 14th in the table heading into this clash, but a win could put them right back amongst the top six - and they will be desperate to make the most of this opportunity.

It's been six year's since these two sides have done battle, but Derby have historically fared well against their guests, with five unbeaten from their last half a dozen home ties.

Bet 1: Derby County (HOME) @ 1.728/11

To the capital now, as we drop a division, where Leyton Orient host Walsall at the Matchroom Stadium.

The O's went into this season with big expectations following an impressive campaign last year which saw them narrowly miss out on promotion after leading for much of the way - but their hopes were quickly dashed as they succumbed to an opening day loss against Chesterfield.

Since that outing, Russell Slade appears to have galvanised his troops somewhat, and they have won two and drawn one of their subsequent three outings, a run which suggests that they are on an upward curve.

This is their first home clash since that surprise defeat, and the hosts will be keen to right a wrong, and grab their third win from four outings on their own patch.

One thing's for sure - this is a side drenched in goals. Darius Henderson, Dave Mooney and Kevin Lisbie have all gotten off the mark already this season, and six notched in their last three outings indicates that there is certainly no shortage of final third quality in Orient's ranks.

Walsall head south having won just one of their four outings this campaign - a League Cup clash against fourth division Southend United - and that means that the visitors are still to get off the mark in the league.

A 2-1 home defeat to Yeovil Town won't have done much for confidence in the Saddlers camp though, and with just two draws previous to that outing, Dean Smith's side teeter on the edge of the drop zone.

It is now four clashes since the visitors grabbed a win on the road, or indeed kept a clean sheet away from the Bescot Stadium, and I reckon that they might feel the full force of a Leyton Orient side keen to put things right in front of their home crowd.

Bet 2: Leyton Orient (HOME) @ 21/1

And heading south west of London now, where an in-form AFC Wimbledon welcome relegation-zone Hartlepool United to the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

The home side go into this one in fifth place in the fourth tier, and unbeaten in the league after their opening trio of outings.

A pair of back to back 1-0 wins on the road will have morale high in the home camp, and they will be looking to maintain that momentum as they line up on home turf.

With a front pairing of Matt Tubbs and Ade Akinfenwa, the Dons certainly know where the net is, and that experience could play a big part as they face a 'Pool side which has shipped a whopping 11 goals in their opening six hours of football this season.

Colin Cooper's charges make the arduous trip to this game having lost two home outings on the trot, both by two goals, and unfortunately for the Monkey Hangers, their form away from Victoria Park isn't much better.

In fact, they've not won in nine on their travels - and they've not even scored in six of those.

You have to ask whether their gaffer will be given much more time to turn around this miserable run, and that pressure could be playing on the visitor's minds a little bit. I just can't look past Neal Ardley's Dons for the win here.

Bet 3: AFC Wimbledon (HOME) @ 1.910/11

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