English League One
2013-01-22 - Bury vs Sheffield United
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – League One
Tuesday 22nd January 2013 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
BURY
Third from bottom Bury entertain play-off candidates Sheffield United at Gigg Lane on Tuesday night as they bid to lift themselves out of the bottom four. Indeed, if they win tonight they would plunge Scunthorpe United into the relegation mix, but this is a big ‘if’.
With no league wins in their last eight matches, recent form suggests the best they can hope for tonight is a point against travelling Sheffield United but even this result looks fairly unlikely as United look to reduce the points deficit on Tranmere and Doncaster in the chasing pack.
Recent points taken off Shrewsbury Town, Preston NE and away at MK Dons which was the most impressive of all, have been spoiled by defeats against Carlisle United and Tranmere Rovers.
Bury’s home record stands at a disappointing 2-5-6 12/19 and are behind only to Hartlepool United (8 home goals) in terms of lowest number of goals scored at home in League One.
Just two home defeats in their last eight at Gigg Lane shows signs of improvement but alas most of the games they don’t lose tend to end in draws so they don’t make much impression.
SHEFFIELD UNITED
With no wins from their last four League One matches, Sheffield United will no doubt be looking upon this fixture as a must-win three-pointer in order to consolidate their play-off position with the likes of Coventry City, Bournemouth and Yeovil Town making in-roads on the play-off pack.
However, The Blades have only managed two draws (2-2 at Doncaster Rovers which actually was a good result, and 1-1 at Notts County), while suffering back-to-back home defeats to rock-bottom Hartlepool United and Yeovil Town.
Away from home, the picture hasn’t been so bleak with just two defeats all season (at the hands of MK Dons and Brentford) and notable wins against Crawley Town and Yeovil, The Blades have been pretty solid on the road with an overall record of 6-6-2 16/11, keeping five clean sheets in the process.
THE BETTING VERDICT:
Whilst Bury have made some signs of recovery, the progress has been slow with turning defeats into just draws, so I’ll take my chances backing Sheffield United tonight giving the quarter ball away so if they don’t win we only lose half of our stake here.
Could be a 2-0 win for United though as they look to close the gap on the top two in League One.
The Pick :
Bury 0 Sheffield United 2
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
