Welcome to our tipping round-up. If you don't know the drill by now, every week I post my betting suggestions for the weekend (which you may well wish to steer clear of), as well as our predictions contest. The blog can also act as a talkboard for any Football League-related discussions over the weekend.
Millwall to beat Coventry at 7-4
Repeatedly under-rated by this column through the season, it's finally time to give the Lions their on-field due (and jinx them at the same time). Kenny Jackett has worked wonders at the Den, with a six-match unbeaten run including victories over QPR, Burnley, Leeds United and Hull City (and draws with Cardiff City and Bristol City) leading them within realistic range of the play-offs. The quality of opposition in the last six games highlights how well Millwall are playing, and a second consecutive promotion isn't out of the question. Top scorer and Wales striker Steve Morison is banned following a midweek red card, while Kevin Lisbie is out for the season, but even with these key absences, the Lions have depth. Neil Harris and Josh McQuoid may well be drafted in against a Coventry side well down on the standard of Millwall's recent opponents. The Sky Blues' midweek win at Portsmouth all but guaranteed their place in the Championship next season, both easing the pressure on the team, yet also lessening the importance to them of this match. Gary McSheffrey is a fitness doubt for a team that, even unbeaten in their last three, have won just three of their last 21.
Wycombe to beat Northampton and Bury to beat Barnet double at 7-4
Value is thin on the ground in League Two this weekend, so we'll look instead at a generous double. Northampton were thoroughly outclassed by Bury last time out and this trip to another automatic promotion contender is unlikely to improve their winless-in-15 record. The aforementioned Shakers host managerless Barnet, themselves coming off a wild week in the wake of Martin Allen's departure. He may feel he left them in good shape to stay up, but the Bees remain in the bottom two, where they are most likely to remain after the trip to Gigg Lane.
NB: prices with Betfair and correct at the time of publication
Tipping contest
As you'll note from the scoring, we have a late-starters amnesty, with any new contestants awarded a total of 25 points, rather than one point for every week they've missed. Last week's top performers were horne94 and captainmorganrum, who each correctly called five out of the six.
The top of the table so far (The full table will be posted in the comments section below) …
markier 82
PiggyPingoPiglet 80
captainmorganrum 76
Bobby142 71
horne94 70
stevegrant 68
Thewalthamstowone 66
TheRealRingo 65
Me 64
richardw 63
As for this week: make your result (not scoreline) prediction for each of the games below, with one point per correct result. The deadline is 3pm BST on Saturday.
Burnley v Swansea
Coventry v Millwall
Charlton v Huddersfield
Walsall v Brighton
Bury v Barnet
Wycombe v Northampton
I'm tipping Swansea, Millwall, draw, draw, Bury and Wycme. You can also follow me on Twitter if you want more money-losing tips/predictions through the week.
