Gab Sutton's EFL Winners & Losers - April 7
Domestic football returned following the international break as we head into the business-end of the season throughout the EFL.
Our EFL pundit here at Free Bets, Gab Sutton, takes a look at another busy weekend of EFL action across the three leagues.
Winners
Ipswich
Ipswich have strengthened their position in the Championship’s automatic promotion race across the Easter weekend, despite only playing once.
Middlesbrough are the closest thing to the Tractor Boys in terms of the capability of their team, but they lost on Good Friday to automatic promotion rivals Millwall, who then themselves lost at home to Norwich while Boro could only manage a draw at Swansea.
All those dropped points were the perfect incentive for Kieran McKenna’s side to do the business against Birmingham, which they did thanks to Kasey McAteer’s best performance yet in a Town shirt.
Level on points with third and fourth, but with two games in hand on both, Ipswich are now firm favourites for that second spot, and while playing games will bring it’s own challenges, they have the best squad in the league to navigate those dilemmas.
Lincoln
Lincoln City effectively secured promotion when a late winner saw them to victory over AFC Wimbledon on Good Friday, but they made it mathematical when they won 2-1 at Reading on bank holiday Monday, thanks to a last-minute Jack Moylan winner.
The Imps will bring an aggressive, energetic, incisive transitional style to the Championship, and while they’ll be significantly up against it in terms of budget, they give themselves a chance because of how strong their infrastructure and operational processes are.
In Michael Skubala, Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, City have a fantastic management team, and fully deserve their short at the second-tier.
Notts County
Cambridge United looked in cruise control at Cheltenham on Monday, but a momentary 90th-minute lapse in concentration from goalkeeper Jake Eastwood saw them, literally, drop two points at Whaddon Road.
While Notts County (12) have lost five more games than the U’s (7), they’ve been better at killing teams off which is what they did to strugglers Newport, in a 3-1 victory that put Martin Paterson’s side two points clear – though Cambridge have a game in hand.
Even without Alassana Jatta, County have strikers in Lee Ndlovu and Matthew Dennis who can hurt their opponents, while midfield Huddersfield loanee Tom Iorpenda is a sensational talent.
Losers
Leicester
With two of their closest relegation rivals in Portsmouth and Oxford having shared the points in Monday’s early kick-off, Leicester had the perfect opportunity to gain ground on both.
All they had to do was win at beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday, who had been mathematically relegated in February and are still on negative points.
Instead, Gary Rowett’s side served up a poor first half showing that left them with much to do in the second, when they were thwarted by a man-of-the-match showing from Pierce Charles, who put himself in the shop window with a stunning 11 saves, showing excellent reactions.
In the end, they needed an excellent late strike from Jordan Ayew to salvage a point, avoiding total embarrassment, but who knows how costly their failure to win their season’s easiest fixture on paper will be.
Northampton
Northampton’s 3-1 home loss to Wigan meant the Cobblers are some 13 points adrift of safety with just five games left to play.
Since beating Stevenage 3-1 in February, Teyn have mustered a meagre two points from 11 league games, a run during which boss Kevin Nolan lost his job.
The club are taking their time identifying his replacement to lead them in League Two next season, with their fate likely to be mathematically confirmed either on Saturday, when those above them play, or at Luton next Wednesday.
Tranmere
Since February’s 2-0 victory over Crawley, Tranmere have mustered just a solitary point from the subsequent 10 league games, five of which coming under Pete Wild’s guidance.
The former Oldham boss, and boyhood Latic, has come under criticism already from some quarters, and the relationship has become quite unstable in parts, which could make the remainder of the season look awkward – especially with Crawley, Barrow, Newport and Harrogate all showing hints of resurgence to different extents.
Performances have been a mixed bag: the point at Fleetwood was positive, they were all over promotion contenders Swindon, but other games have felt a touch uninspiring as the slump that had started under Andy Crosby is yet to be arrested
EFL Betting at Free Bets
Gab Sutton provides weekly football tips for Free Bets, featuring a thoroughly researched longshot acca alongside sharp analysis of the key talking points and standout moments from the weekend's action at the start of each new week.
