5 League Two Tips to Watch This Weekend - Gameweek 4

Having agonisingly missed out on a play-off place last season after finishing a point behind winners Northampton, the Valiants will be hoping to reach those heights again this time around.

Under new ownership, Port Vale have started the season well, registering two wins while failing to concede. Although last week’s stalemate against Harrogate Town prevented them from making it three wins out of three, they will take comfort in the fact that the defensive side of their game looked strong.

Saturday’s opponents Morecambe narrowly escaped the drop last season, but welcomed additions in Nathaniel Night-Percival and Harry Davis have seen them begin this campaign with two wins out of three. Despite their positive start, however, defensive questions still remain having conceded the joint-second most goals in the league alongside Oldham, who are in the bottom three.

Port Vale possess more quality throughout the pitch than Morecambe, so we’ve tipped them to grab either a 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1 victory here at 9/4 - click this link to have this in your bet slip.

Salford will be frustrated by the slow start they have made to the season so far, having been held by Exeter and Forest Green. However, an emphatic 4-0 victory over Grimsby on matchday two shows the capability of Graham Alexander’s side, with many touting them for a title push.

Having escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, Stevenage could be facing a similar fate this time out. A cruel late winner from Lee Novak saw Bradford snatch all three points from the Boro, who have started this season in mixed form.

Salford will see this game as a perfect opportunity to put three points on the board, and we expect them to grab the win here. However, Stevenage look more resilient than they did last season, having scored five and conceded three during their opening three games.

Therefore, we’ve tipped Salford to win and there to be over 3.5 goals at 11/2 - click here to claim.

Newport will be hoping that their opening day draw to Scunthrope was just a blip in their quest for a play-off place. Since then, two victories over Barrow and Bolton have seen the Ironsides climb to third in the table. Last season’s collapse around October and November was disappointing for Newport fans, but they look a resurgent side so far this term.

Mansfield, on the other hand, are yet to gain a victory this season despite heavy investment over the transfer window. Graham Coughlan’s side looked impressive in the first 20 minutes in last week’s clash with Exeter City, but an own goal and a header bundled in by Josh Key saw them slump to a disappointing 2-1 defeat.

Newport will be hoping to make it three wins out of three this weekend, and we’ve tipped both teams to score but Newport to run out eventual winners at 9/2 - click here to claim this bet.

Crawley currently find themselves in fourth place after three games, having bounced back from their opening day defeat to Port Vale. John Yems has proved to be a stellar appointment as manager, and performances towards the end of last season showed much promise with the adoption of a more forward-thinking style of play. The Reds survived a late scare from Oldham as they ran out eventual 3-2 winners last weekend to make it two wins in a row.

Hoping to stop them in their tracks are Southend, although if early season performances are anything to go by, it could be a long afternoon for the away side. For a team that conceded an extraordinary 85 goals last season in League One, it is always going to be tough to muster any sort of resilience. Their season has begun with three straight losses, which has seen them concede eight times, while only managing to score one.

This should be a tough afternoon for Southend, which is why we’ve backed Crawley to win and to keep a clean sheet at 15/8 - click here to get this in your bet slip.

League Two newcomers Harrogate have enjoyed a fruitful start to life in League Two having gained promotion from the National League last season. They remain unbeaten after the first three games, and opened the season with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Southend. Last weekend also saw them hold Port Vale to a draw at Vale Park in which the Sulphurites looked a strong, cohesive side.

Striker Jack Muldoon, who scored on 13 occasions last season, has started this campaign in fine form netting three times in as many games. As well as this, winger Aaron Martin has looked very impressive on the left-hand side, netting twice and registering two assists so far.

They both got on the scoresheet against Walsall on matchday two, and we’ve backed them to continue their attacking exploits by both getting on the scoresheet against Bolton on the weekend at 9/1 - click here to get this one in your bet slip.

By Andrew Delaney