English League One
2011-10-29 - Sheffield United vs Exeter City
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – League One
Saturday 29th October 2011 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Fourth placed Sheffield United could lift themselves up into second place if they take all three points off their visitors today Exeter City, and depending on other results of course.
Sheffield United
Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last four matches, and will be looking for back-to-back wins following their important 2-1 win over MK Dons on Tuesday night.
The Blades’ home record now stands at 5-1-2 16/10, and are behind only to their neighbourhood rivals Sheffield Wednesday (18 goals) in terms of home goals.
United’s five home wins have come against Brentford 2-0, Walsall 3-2, Bury 4-0, Colchester United 3-0 and MK Dons 2-1. They drew 2-2 in the recent Sheffield derby with Wednesday, and the losses were against Huddersfield Town 0-3 and Charlton Athletic 0-2; these results suggest that they may have a little way to go to earn automatic promotion, but are solid against sides outside the top six at home.
The Blades’ goals have been shared around so far with experienced striker Richard Cresswell (4 goals, 3 assists) leading with midfielder Matty Phillips (3 goals) along with the supply coming from midfielders Stephen Quinn (1 goal, 5 assists) and Billy Clarke (4 assists).
Exeter City
Visitors Exeter City have staged something of a mini-revival in the last couple of matches with back-to-back wins over Rochdale 3-1 at home and a 2-1 away win at Walsall in midweek. These two wins have lifted them out of the bottom four for now, but they face a daunting task as they travel north to promotion-chasing Sheffield United.
It’s their away form that is under the microscope here though, and the Grecians have not performed on the road at all well thus far with a record of 1-1-5 2/11. The stand-out stat (aside from the lack of wins) is the number of away goals scored and they’re not surprisingly the division’s lowest away goalscorers with that meagre return. In fact, only Fulham & Wigan (1 goal apiece) have scored fewer on the road in all the English divisions.
Exeter’s win at Walsall on Tuesday stemmed a five match losing streak, but the Bescot Stadium isn’t exactly a fortress for Walsall, and Exeter’s five losses have been at teams placed higher than them in the table; 0-1 at Preston NE, 0-2 at Hartlepool United, 0-2 at Charlton Athletic, 0-3 at Sheffield Wednesday and 0-2 at Bury.
It’s also interesting to note that Exeter have struggled to even score in these fixtures.
The Betting Verdict :
With their poor away goal scoring record and Sheffield United’s home advantage and superiority, the Blades really should run out comfortable winners here – a 2-0 win for the home side.
The Pick :
Sheffield Utd 2-0 Exeter City
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
