English League Two
2011-12-30 - Crawley Town vs Barnet
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – League Two
Friday 30th December 2011 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
League leaders Crawley Town will be looking to turn the screw at the top of League Two when they host a Barnet side who are on the fringes of the relegation places on Friday night at their Broadfield Stadium.
Crawley Town
It’s no secret that Crawley Town have received significant financial backing on the back of their promotion from the Blue Square Premier, and manager Steve Evans has so far delivered on these expectations that cash injections demand.
With Evans likely to dip into the January transfer market for “quality not quantity” according to the club’s website, this will be a statement of intent from the Sussex club as they make their final promotion push.
But this match against Barnet represents a real chance to extend their three point lead at the top and to bounce back from their surprise defeat at the hands of Gillingham on Boxing Day, losing 1-2.
That defeat was only their second at home this season, and have been impressive in front of their home faithful particularly against the lower placed teams; wins over top seven teams like Southend United, Shrewsbury Town and Burton Albion have been equally as effective as wins over Plymouth Argyle, Bradford City and Dagenham & Redbridge (winning by 2 goal margins against these teams).
Crawley’s home record stands at 9-1-2 28/11, and they are the league’s most prolific scorers at home in League Two and with an attack such as Matt Tubbs (12 goals, 7 assists) and Tyrone Barnett (10 goals, 5 assists), along with support from defenders Kyle McFadzean and Dean Howell (3 assists each), you can see why.
Crawley also boast a superior goal difference of +17, while today’s visitors, Barnet, have a goal difference of -18, with only Plymouth and Northampton Town (-19 each) having a worse record.
Barnet
Onto Barnet then, and Lawrie Sanchez’s men are just three points above the relegation drop-zone and despite a mini-revival a few weeks ago where they recorded back-to-back wins against Bristol Rovers and Macclesfield Town, they seem to have gone backwards again with losses against Torquay United and more seriously, a 0-3 loss at Dagenham which has plunged them back into the relegation dogfight.
The Bees’ away record stands at an unimpressive 2-2-7 11/22, and have won on the road just once in their last ten attempts. Clean sheets are also a rarity with just two which were their wins at Morecambe and Bristol Rovers. Aside from that, their defence ship on average 2 goals per game on the road, in addition to struggling to find the net themselves.
If it wasn’t for striker Izale McLeod (14 goals, 1 assist) they would no doubt be firmly entrenched at the bottom of League Two, with midfielder Ricky Holmes (4 goals) the only other real contributor to the goal tally. Midfielder Mark Marshall (4 assists) has provided the bulk of their assists, but it seems a simple plan here; keep McLeod quiet and Barnet won’t win.
The Betting Verdict:
The goal differences are the most telling statistic in this fixture, and I’m expecting Crawley to put Barnet to bed quite comfortably tonight, with the home side winning 2-0 or 3-1.
The Pick :
Crawley Town 2-0 Barnet
BEST BETTING TIP :
Value Pick :Consider a bet on Matt Tubbs first goalscorer @ 4.00 at bet365 he has 12 goals so far.
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Main Pick :
Take Crawley Town AH-1 @ 1.52 bet365 as I expect a two goal margin of victory
Take Crawley Town AH-1 @ 1.52 bet365 as I expect a two goal margin of victory
