GW 37 – Ones To Watch
Ally: On the face of it this looks a tough weekend of fixtures, particularly as the notorious National League North and South leagues are in play and no player wants to slip up at this late stage of the season when points are so valuable.
However I’m heading into one of the aforementioned leagues for my my tip of the weekend, which sees current North division leaders Chorley against struggling Leamington. Chorley have been pretty reliable scorers this season both at their Victory Park home as well as on their travels. However they are prone to the odd slip up, and while they have won 6 of their last 7 home games and scoring 18 goals in the process, the one blip was a 1-0 defeat against second bottom side Ashton United. Leamington are yet to win away in 2019 and haven’t kept an away clean sheet since early November 2018, so I’m backing the hosts to come good here.
Next up is a more dangerous tip, as I’m risking the curse of the early kick off (aka COTEKO) in the League One clash between Walsall and Barnsley. The visitors are looking to tighten their grip on second place behind long time leaders Luton, and will see this as an opportunity to collect another 3 points. Their recent goalscoring form may look somewhat suspect, having drawn a blank in 4 of their last 6 outings, but 2 of those have been away draws at play off rivals Doncaster and Portsmouth, and a home 0-0 against 3rd placed Sunderland. They have just one defeat to their name in 20 matches, and that was at Premier League Burnley, so they arrive at the Bescot with some pedigree. Hosts Walsall’s current position is precarious as they occupy the final relegation spot, and while 2 wins in their previous 3 home games suggests promise, they have kept just 2 clean sheets in their previous 20 home games, so I fancy the Tykes to strengthen their promotion credentials here.