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Walsall v Charlton
If this was a home game, Charlton would be trading at about 1.4; the fact they are just as good if not better on their travels means that the league leaders are a must-bet this weekend.

Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup win over League One rivals made it eight wins on the spin and once again showed their winning mentality, despite manager Chris Powell making changes to his usual line-up. Carlisle lacked some quality in the final third, but Charlton are a very hard side to play against despite all their quality. Powell favours a 4-4-2, and the Addicks are best when stretching the play out wide, they have pace, and are particularly good on the counter attack. The defence is ultra solid, and they've kept six clean sheets in that winning run of eight games.

Against the excellent Huddersfield, Charlton showed themselves the much better team, and I always look to sides that are able to keep clean sheets.

Walsall are in the relegation zone and lack the quality to trouble the best away defence in the division. The Saddlers got involved in a rough and tumble FA Cup tie last Saturday and just lumped the ball long against Dagenham, whilst the weekend before was a drab 0-0 against Stevenage, a game that involved no football whatsoever.

The hosts do play for their young boss Dean Smith, but they can be a bit predictable.

Back Charlton to beat Walsall @ 1.85
Back Charlton Clean Sheet @ 2.7
Lay First Half Goals - Over 1.5 @ 2.8
Back 0-1 @ 8.2 & 0-2 @ 11.0 Correct Scores (To Charlton)


Preston v Stevenage
Everything points to a low scoring encounter here, with a fragile Preston tackling the recent under 2.5 goals specialists Stevenage, which should give a strong pointer to several bets.

The hosts had no FA Cup match on Saturday but were ugly in grinding out a 1-0 win at Hartlepool two weeks ago, a much needed victory which subsequently resulted in Pools sacking their manager. If North End had lost, it could have been Phil Brown finding himself out of a job. Preston are just one win from six, but crucially they have scored just two goals in that run, with all six games hitting the Under 2.5 Goals option. They are badly missing the qualities of Iain Hume, but they are not a great side and need to scrap for clean sheets.

Stevenage will relish the fight. They are big, robust, physical and strong in a tackle. To their credit they are unbeaten in nine league and cup games, keeping an astonishing amount of clean sheets - seven to be precise. Manager Graham Westley talks of overloading areas and using the full-backs. It's quite basic stuff, which I am sure would see the gods of the game turn their thumbs down at, but it's effective and they are hard to beat.

Lay Preston @ 2.58
Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.06
Back 0-0 Correct Score @ 13.0


Oldham v Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday are hunting down league leaders Charlton, and Gary Megson is making the Owls a real force in the division. They've improved on their travels this season, and have won their last three on the road, all 2-1. They are, as expected for a Megson team, well drilled and disciplined, and excel at set pieces and long throw-ins. In Reda Johnson they have an absolute monster as an aerial threat, whilst the impish Ryan Lowe is starting to score.

Oldham have some momentum and are unbeaten in five matches. Manager Paul Dickov lines up a 4-4-2, with a decent forward line in Shefqi Kuqi and Robbie Simpson. The latter is a clever footballer who finds the space well, Kuqi is a good old fashioned battering ram.

Dickov will want to be very solid here, not giving Wednesday too much early in the game, so it's worth a look at the half-time markets for a fairly tight encounter, with several opportunities In-Play at the interval.

Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.14
Back 0-0 @ 15.0 & 0-1 @ 12.0 Correct Scores
Back Half Time Draw @ 2.3

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