Fishermen to find the net at falling Rovers
An out of form Bristol Rovers welcome last season’s playoff semi finalists Fleetwood Town to the Memorial Stadium as they look to distance themselves away from the relegation battle, as Ben Garner’s men sit three points above the trapdoor. Joey Barton’s Fishermen are the better side on paper and are five points off the playoffs, six above Rovers, in their recovery act after a disappointing start to the campaign, losing three of their opening four. The bookies have this one down as a fairly even encounter and should the visitors not bring their A game they could fall flat, however they are the stronger outfit.
Background
In a surprising statistic, the last three matches on the bounce between these two have ended in goalless draws, let’s hope for some more entertainment on Saturday afternoon. Garner’s men have been quite good value for the neutral so far this season, finding the net in nine of their last 10, conceding in 12 of 14 with seven of 10 seeing both sides get on the scoresheet. The Fishermen have been slightly more watertight of late, keeping four clean sheets in their last seven, which included three consecutive victories to nil, offensively they are comfortably inside the top half of the league, scoring in 13 of their last 17. A longshot of Fleetwood to Win to Nil in this encounter would pay out at 5.26, maybe worth a punt with a smaller portion of your usual stake.
Experience Vs Youth
When you look at the strike forces at the disposal of these two sides, it is chalk and cheese. Barton have proven football league goals, and older players in the form of Ched Evans, 31, and Paddy Madden, 30. Whereas Garner has players on the other end of the spectrum, James Daly, 20, and Brandon Hanlan, 23.
The latter, former Charlton Athletic and Gillingham frontman has had more time to cut his teeth at the level and has achieved some decent returns, approaching 20 goals and 100 appearances in the third tier. Daly has burst onto the scene this season with three goals to his name already, having joined the club as a free agent after his release from Crystal Palace earlier this year. Evans and Madden both achieved double figures in the curtailed season last term, a feat that Rovers’ prospects are yet to realise, only Ivan Toney bettered the goalscoring campaign of Madden, expect them to cause plenty of problems this weekend.
Getting on the side with the visitors looks good value, they are around 2.63 best price to win the match, but use the draw no bet market to give yourself some insurance.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Fleetwood have got their act together, they are a force to be reckoned with in the division.