It wasn’t the best of weeks last time out with two out of five picks doing the business, although our loss was mitigated by the nicely priced 10/11 selection of Fleetwood vs Scunthorpe obliging.
Brighton overturned a BTTS record that shows 17/24 of their outings have not delivered the magic mark, while Augsburg vs Frankfurt was a fantastically end-to-end game that finished 3-0 to the hosts.
So we’re not too disheartened; this was football simply revealing itself as a funny old game (which we knew already!). Here are this week’s both teams to score betting tips:
- Stoke City vs Brighton: Both Teams to Score – No
- Middlesbrough vs Reading: Both Teams to Score – No
- Gillingham vs Peterborough: Both Teams to Score – Yes
- Sevilla vs Girona: Both Teams to Score – Yes
- Deportivo vs Real Betis: Both Teams to Score – Yes
Stoke City vs Brighton – No (3/4)
We’re going to go in again with a BTTS (No) wager involving Brighton, who have a habit of serving up low-scoring matches (apart from when we’re involved, naturally!).
But in all serious, more than two-thirds of their outings have delivered on the BTTS (No) front, and that record is exacerbated away from home: 15 of their 21 goals scored this term have come on their own Amex Stadium patch.
When Paul Lambert took over at Stoke his first assignment was obvious: stop the team with the worst defensive record in the division from conceding goals so liberally.
Clean sheets in his opening two games against Huddersfield and Watford duly followed, and while his side shipped a brace against Bournemouth last time out we’re willing to overlook that considering they play a rather more circumspect Brighton outfit this week.
Middlesbrough vs Reading – No (4/6)
Has ‘PulisBall’ finally kicked in at Middlesbrough? The North East side have failed to score in each of their last three home games as Tony Pulis’ conservative stylings finally appear to be taking hold. For a team that spent so much on attacking players in the summer transfer window, this record is risible.
After a brilliant first season in charge at Reading, Jaap Stam is said to be clinging to his job by his fingernails after claiming just one win in his last ten Championship encounters.
More worrying is his sides inability to put the ball in the net: the Royals have failed to score in six of their last nine league outings.
Gillingham vs Peterborough – Yes (8/13)
The job that Steve Lovell has done at Gillingham has been outstanding; the Gills embarking on an eight-game unbeaten run prior to the 0-2 defeat to Wigan last time out.
Eye-catching in that riotous run was their ability to put the ball in the net – they scored two or more goals in seven of those eight – and also to concede; they also shipped in 7/8.
Peterborough are a slick attacking outfit and they won’t go into hiding against the in-form Gills; quite the contrary. Only four teams in League 1 have scored more than the Posh, and exactly 50% of their goals this term have come on the road.
Sevilla vs Girona – Yes (4/5)
These must be worrying times for Sevilla: their 1-5 defeat to Eibar last time out just the latest in a long-line of embarrassments this term.
Indeed, the former Europa League winners have now shipped 34 goals in 22 La Liga starts: more than Espanyol, Alaves and Levante, who occupy the three positions in the league table just above the relegation zone.
Girona go about their business in fairly carefree fashion: they’ve scored more times than Sevilla this term, and just two fewer than Atletico Madrid and Villarreal. They could give Sevilla a mighty headache on Sunday morning.
Deportivo vs Real Betis – Yes (4/6)
Two of La Liga’s worst teams defensively meet on Monday evening, and we have to assume that goals will naturally follow.
Clarence Seedorf has just been unveiled as Deportivo boss, and boy what a job the Dutch legend has on his hands. His new employer has conceded a whopping 51 goals in 22 games, with 1-7 and 0-5 defeats within their last three!
Real Betis’ 22 league outings have witnessed a barely believable 82 goals, and they have kept a solitary clean sheet since October – no surprise there! They have shipped two or more in five of their last six matches.