English Lower-league Treble
- Southampton (9/20) to beat Bolton, KO Sat 3pm
- Wrexham (7/10) to beat Preston, KO Sat 3pm
- Reading (19/20) to win at Wigan, KO Sat 3pm
This works out at the above prices at 4/1
**Prices correct at the time of publishing, 15:00 on Friday 16 Oct.
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Southampton v Bolton, Championship, Saturday 3pm
With their ‘spygate’ woes now behind them, the saints celebrated with a 1-0 home win against arch south-cost rivals Portsmouth, and then a 1-0 win at out-of-form Norwich.
They have now won four of their last five league matches, conceding just two goals in the process. Cyle Larin (eight goals in ten starts, all comps), Ireland’s Finn Azaz (three in his last eight starts) and Léo Scienza (three in last eight starts) have all chipped in nicely.
Remarkably, Southampton have won 20 of their last 29 league matches.
Their opponents Bolton will arrive at St Mary’s in good form, having won three of their last four league matches and have moved up to 14th in the table. Two of those wins, though, came against teams in the bottom six. This said, winning breeds confidence, although their last three league games have yielded 14 goals (F8 A6).
Six different Bolton players have scored goals in those games, with two apiece for Atsuki Ito and Sam Dalby.
Verdict – A confident Southampton side are taken to continue their rise up the table as they march towards automatic promotion.
Wrexham v Preston, Championship, Sat 3pm
Graham Alexander’s appointment as Preston’s boss has so far resulted in a 1-0 home defeat to Millwall and a 4-0 defeat at Birmingham. They are bottom of the table and struggling for confidence, which is hardly surprising seeing that they have lost nine of their 12 matches (all comps) this season.
Wrexham have been a bit hit-and-miss this season but have still come up with some good results, for example, a 2-1 home win against Southampton on Sept 19th.
However, they are hardly bullet-proof with just two wins (and five draws) in their eleven matches so far. Their league defeats, though, have come against sides currently in the top six.
Saturday’s game represents, on the face of things, a less-formidable challenge.
Verdict – Wrexham to win.
Wigan v Reading, League One, Sat 3pm
Reading go into this on the back of a 5-1 win at MK Dons. They have firepower in Jacob Brown (4 goals in 9 games this season) and Kyreece Lisbie (3 in 9). Their leading scorer this season, Jack Marriott, will be absent but they can overcome this against a Wigan side that has just a 22% shot accuracy (the worst in the league) this season and a 13% big-chance conversion, which is also the worst in the league.
Wigan are currently bottom of the table with just four points from eight games and have scored just five goals in those games.
Wigan have beaten Reading just once in their last eight league meetings.
Verdict – With their confidence high, Reading can win again on the road.
English Lower-LeagueTreble
- Southampton (9/20) to beat Bolton, KO Sat 3pm
- Wrexham (7/10) to beat Preston, KO Sat 3pm
- Reading (19/20) to win at Wigan, KO Sat 3pm
This works out at the above prices at 4/1
**Prices correct at the time of publishing, 15:00 on Friday 16 Oct.
