Seven full match previews sent to clubgowi newsletter subscribers today covering EPL, Championship, League 1 and 2 , MLS and Brazilian football. You can read one below , most long term subscribers have paid around 1.8 € for today's two newsletters and that is a lot of content and information for the price of half a cup of coffee !
League 2: Accrington Stanley- Luton Town
The Hatters have , at least as I write, missed out on a seven figure bonus as their sell on clause for Brentford striker Andre Gray, but they will get that sooner or later and it has not stopped them being very big players in the off season, with eleven players joining Town in the summer, manager John Still has always been a master whealer dealer in the transfer market, with an amazing eye for a non league/bargain basement signing and likes to keep those revolving front doors turning through the summer months ! He has a bigger budget at Kenilworth Road than he had at Dagenham , or indded, in his four decades as a non league manager, but a deal is still (see what I did there!) a deal. Unusually for a football manager he stated this week that he wa 100% happy with his squad and depth for the new season and felt "very comfortable", he added that the bedding in of so many new players could hardly have gone better and my cousin who hates Luton with a passion saw them beat Brentford in pre season and had to admit that Town were incredibly well organised and looked to keep the ball down and try to out play the Bees (which we know is close to impossible !) . It might be that Town will be at their very best when the pitches are in top condition and that is certainly the case for a trip to Accrington where the surface can cut up badly at times. Town were 2-0 down here early last yera before coming back strongly to draw (should have won) and took the reverse fixture 2-0, so were 4-0 h2h over the last 150 minutes and look so much stronger this season, their second back in the Football League.
At the turn of the year I previewed their home game with highflying Shrewsbury Town, who eventually finished as one of the promoted teams......
I cannot agree with the odds here and feel that oddsmakers have gone overboard about the visitors. Shrewsbury have been incredibly strong at home this season, but away from Greenhous Meadow they are 3-3-6 and have not scored more than they have conceded in any 15 minute split (0-15,16-30 etc) on the road, that might not mean much, but it certainly implies they have not been dominating, or been unlucky in these games. Only two points separates these two and with the hosts having a game in hand, I see no reason to view the Shrews as the stronger of the two in any case and we are now entering the period of the year when Luton went on a charge last season, they are unbeaten in three L2 starts and from the middle of last December took 28 points from a possible 30, enroute to running away with the Conference title.
The hosts are 8-2-2 at home and were 14-3-0 here last season until their intensity dipped a little after the title was won, they have passionate support home and away and Kenilworth Road can be an intimidating venue, an old school Football League ground and this is an ambitious club with Championship aspirations, they were in the second tier as recently as 2007. In stark contrast to the visitors, Luton have won every 15 minute split in home games this camapign, by virtue of scoring more than they have conceded, not 100% sure what that means, beyond the fact that they keep the pressure up, with no noticeable dips during 90 minutes. They are a much better first half team than the Shrews, collected 8 points more before the break and are 6-0-0 at home when leading at half time.
The visitors have failed to score in 4 of their last 6 starts in all competitions and the goals have started to dry up, six goal striker Andy Mangan has played very little recently and is still struggling to overcome an injury , Town are loathe to rush him back with the bigger picture in mind and any game time from him today, will be very limited. Home boss John Still will be delighted that he gets team leader and captain Stephen McNulty , along with left back Scott Griffiths and key midfielder Nathan Doyle back from illness and injury today and that will hugely increase options. To say that McNulty is a big presence is an understatement ( think Adebayo Akinfenwa) and the Hatters have lost just once in 14 starts ( 7-1-0 at home) since Doyle, who has made over 100 EPL starts and is still only 28 yo, arrived at the club. The wily coach also signed giant 21 yo striker Jayden Stockley on loan from Championship leaders Bournemouth this week, he has scored plenty of goals on loan at lower level clubs and is available for selection this evening, he, Mcnulty and co will especially be a handful from set pieces and win lose or draw, I feel bookmakers have the wrong favourite in this game.
We took Town off level ball and they battered the Shrews 0-0 (!), seriously they were by far the better team, but did lose their way over the final couple of months of the season. I suspect Still has addressed all that and amongst a crop of promising youngsters, he has signed three "veterans" in Josh McQuoid ( Bournemouth) , Craig Mackail - Smith and Paddy McCourt (both Brighton) who are way too talented for League 2 if coach Still can get even close to their best out of them.
Town supporters snapped up their advance ticket allocation of over 1,100 and are expecting several hundred more to make the long trip North and they are likely to make up the bulk of the crowd in the tiny 5k capacity stadium which will negate much of the home field advantage.
Stanley are a team I have a lot of time for and the same goes for their boss John Coleman, who has done wonders here, both in and out of the league on a tiny, tiny budget, but in terms of potential and backing, these two clubs are not on the same playing field. The hosts have also started the last two seasons slowly , 0-1-4 last year and 0-4-8 in 13/14 and I favour the away win today.
1.5 units Luton Town -0.25 ball 2.12 asian line/Sportmarket.
Good Luck.
