Notts County - Plymouth, English Division 2
2004-03-06 16.00 CET
Pick: Plymouth (Asian -0,25)
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,95
Final reason for bet
· Plymouth is in very good form
· Plymouth has a fully fit squad
· Notts County is relegation battlers.
General comment about the game
In the English division two, 19th placed Notts County welcomes table toppers Plymouth. Plymouth who played division three football only two years ago, has had a very good season so far and with four points down to second placed Bristol City, things looks very good for a direct promotion. During this week however, a little disturbing factor has risen in the Plymouth camp since their manager Paul Sturrock has signed for Southampton. Sturrock has been in the club all the way from the lower parts of the third division until today’s push for another promotion. Hence he is the man who has brought most of the players to the club and made things working. A manager shift can always be a tricky thing to cope with, but since Plymouth solves the problem by letting the assistant coach Kevin Summerfield take over the charge, we do think that they will manage to get through this in a winning way. The last game Sturrock was in charge was last Tuesday when they played Sheffield Wednesday at home, a game ending with a Plymouth victory 2-0. Plymouth scored one goal in each half on a header after set pieces. Sheffield did not really disturb Plymouth but the final goal had to wait until the end of the game, and of course it is always shaky to be just one goal up. Ahead of the game Kevin Summerfield has the opportunity to choose from a fully fit squad.
Notts County is placed just above the relegation zone and every game is therefore extremely crucial for them. In the beginning of the season they had difficulties scoring, and many games ended with a blank sheet for the Nottingham club. Lately however their striker Paul Heffernan (21(7) apps, 16 goals) has started to score regularly and this has helped the club to three straight wins against fellow relegation battlers Stockport, Brentford and Grimsby. Heffernan has scored six goals in those games and obviously he is in good shape. However, all the teams they have beaten are not performing well for the moment. The Grimsby game ended 3-1 to Notts County after 2-1 at half time, but it was Grimsby who made the first goal. After a good start from Notts County the Grimsby goal came very surprisingly after ten minutes. This did not upset Notts County too much and instead they made two quick replies after 16 and 27 minutes. In the second half Grimsby started with a more aggressive attitude and Notts County looked really shaky for the first 20 minutes. However, Grimsby were not able to score and instead Notts County could kill the game in the 78th minute. Notts County will probably field the same starting line up as in the Grimsby game since they have no new injuries or suspension worries.
This is a game where we go a bit cautious, mostly because of the manager shift in Plymouth but also since Notts County seems to have hit some kind of form, although against weaker opponents. We propose an Asian handicap bet on Plymouth giving half the stake back on a draw and keep the stake on a medium level, 3%.
Recent games for home team
|
2004-03-02 |
Notts County-Grimsby |
3-1 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Brentford-Notts County |
2-3 |
|
2004-02-21 |
Notts County-Stockport |
4-1 |
|
2004-02-14 |
Bournemouth-Notts County |
1-0 |
|
2004-02-07 |
Queens PR-Notts County |
3-2 |
Recent games for away team
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2004-03-02 |
Plymouth-Sheffield W |
2-0 |
|
2004-02-28 |
Blackpool-Plymouth |
0-1 |
|
2004-02-21 |
Plymouth-Port Vale |
2-1 |
|
2004-02-17 |
Tranmere-Plymouth |
3-0 |
|
2004-02-07 |
Plymouth-Bournemouth |
0-0 |
Home table
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Notts County |
17 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
25-22 |
20 |
Away table
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Plymouth |
17 |
8 |
5 |
4 |
28-20 |
29 |
Links for this game
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// SportsObserver 040305
