Championship
Fixture: Ipswich 1-0 Derby
Venue: Portman Road (Ipswich home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: It's finally arrived the day that Ipswich finally win a match is here, and comes at the expense of an aged and injury-ravaged Derby County. County are appalling on the road and got duffed up last time out at home there are real problems there.
Ipswich came so close last two times out, and it's only a matter of time now. In fact, the stats are on their side, Derby have lost six out of their last seven games at Portman Road and Ipswich did the double over them last season.
Betting Advice: 3pts Ipswich to win at 18/19 (1.95 at expekt.com)
Fixture: Cardiff 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Venue: Ninian Park (Cardiff home)
Kick-off: 5pm BST (Sunday 1 Nov)
Verdict: There is no denying Forest's excellent start to the season and it is certainly not a shock given the amount of money they spent in the close season but they come up against one of the major contenders for automatic promotion.
Cardiff continue to be the big scorers in this league and have built a formidable track record at their new stadium. They are given generous odds, which should be taken as they are the vastly superior side.
Betting Advice: 3pts Cardiff to win at 10/11 (1.91 at Skybet and Coral)
League One
Fixture: MK Dons 2-1 Bristol Rovers
Venue: stadium:mk (Wolves home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: After a decent enough start to the season, it is back to more normal fare for Bristol Rovers who have lost four on the trot. MK Dons continue to look like minimum play-off candidates both on and off the pitch: their signing of Barnsley winger Martin Devaney announces an attention to get it wider a weakness for Paul Ince's side so far this season.
Rovers top two are still dangerous, but the lack of confidence at the back will eventually undo them.
Betting Advice: 3pts MK Dons to win at 5/6 (1.83 at Paddy Power)
Fixture: Leyton Orient 2-2 Southampton
Venue: Brisbane Road (Orient home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: Have you noticed the stealthy rise of Southampton up the table. The south coast side that has been through the mill in recent seasons and suffers from a ten-point ban is close to leaving the bottom four thanks to four wins on the spin. The 3-1 victory over MK Dons was particularly appealing last week.
Orient on the other hand are struggling to find any form and could give Southampton an unprecedented fifth win on the trot.
There is always a temptation to just look at the league table and ignore deductions, but that would be foolish. Without a ten-point penalty Southampton would be a point of the play-offs, which makes them overwhelming favourites.
Betting Advice: 2pts Southampton to win at Evens (2.0 generally)
League Two
Fixture: Chesterfield 1-0 Barnet
Venue: Recreation Ground (Chesterfield home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: The Spireites have been on my "ones to watch" list since the start of the season and they should start paying some serious division now, particularly at home.
They have won six out of seven at the Rec and, with Jack Lester, leading the line, are not short of goals.
Barnet are having a good season and preside in the play-off places, but their away form continues to be a concern having lost the last three. There has been a hint that their form is deserting them, too, recently.
Betting Advice: 3pts Chesterfield to win at 19/20 (1.95 at William Hill)
