GAMBLING AND OTHER WHOLESOME INTERESTS: SATURDAY ...............

I previewed five of today's matches on the email service today and here they are, please remember that they were written last night.

CHAMPIONSHIP
COVENTRY CITY - BRISTOL CITY

Coventry have started the season well and are 100% in League and Cup. They have been creating a lot of chances and in Clinton Morrison and Freddie Eastwood, now have two strikers, who are likely to take any that come their way, both have already scored this campaign and are set to trouble a lot of Championship defences.

Hosts will be very wary of the visitors, who ended a similar strong start to last season for the Sky Blues, when they came here and won 3-0, with a bit of a smash and grab raid. Coventry had 66% possession and 19 attempts on goal, compared to their opponent's ten. That defeat started a dire run for Coventry, when little went right, after today, they face a very tough run of fixtures, with 4 of their next six away from home, against sides who all expect to be involved in the promotion race, so expect a motivated performance, from Chris Coleman's troops.

Bristol face a difficult season after going so close to promotion last time round. They are struggling to find any consistency and last weeks 1-1 draw with a Derby County side, low on confidence, was typical, when, after dominating the first half, they could easily have lost, after playing poorly after the break. A similar lack lustre display will see them come away empty handed today.

5.5 points Coventry -1/4 ball 1.96 asian line.

DIVISION 1
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN - MK DONS

I have to give Town another chance today, they have started with two draws in the league and a 4-0 thumping of neighbours Bradford in the Carling Cup and nowreally need the three points to kick start their charge. I covered them in great detail in the pre season preview, so will not go over old ground here, they have added two strong players to the squad this week, with the permanent signing of Ian Craney, who is a very good "box to box" lower league player and Liam Dickinson, who has joined on a one month loan from Derby County. Dickinson made his name at Stockport last year, where his goals earned them promotion, he has come looking for games and a few goals.

After two disappointing performances to start the season, Dons stepped up with a pleasing showing in the 1-0 home win over local rivals Northampton, but chances have been at a premium so far and this is the type of match Town have to win if they are going to get involved at the business end of this division.

5 points Huddersfield -1/2 ball 2.02 asian line

DIVISION 2
BARNET - BRENTFORD

These two clubs have the same nickname, but let's be sure about one thing, Barnet are the imitation Bees ! Brentford were very impressive in the 4-0 home win over Grimsby last week and really played some good football, against a surprisingly limited visiting side. They have a little competition for places now and in Charlie MacDonald, a striker who could be prolific at this level. The (real) Bees are determined to build on this big win, which came after a promising showing at Championship Swansea in the cup. This is a group of players still getting to know each other and they can only get stronger. They will be cheered by a large travelling support, who are likely to make up 40% of the crowd and will make a lot of noise. Home side have really struggled at the back and conceded ten goals in three starts, I do not see the visitors losing and at level ball, they look a strong bet.

6 points level ball Brentford 1.90 asian line.

LUTON TOWN - NOTTS CO

I have no qualms about taking Luton minus a half ball, given such a massive points deduction, draws have little use to them and they have obviously decided to "go for it ", in every game. They have attacked freely so far, winning twice and creating an awful lot of chances (17) in the third, an opening loss to Port Vale, when they also had something like twelve corners in the first half alone.

Town even managed to rest a couple of players and still defeated championship side Plymouth 2-0 in the Carling Cup, which shows they still retain a little quality and plenty of fight. The fans are still behind them and I expect their points total to be -24 come 5 o'clock this afternoon.

5 points Luton -1/2 ball 1.96 asian line.

SCOTLAND

DIVISION 3
ELGIN CITY - COWDENBEATH

Cowdenbeath have bounced back from a shock ,opening day hammering, from Division 3 new boys Annan, to record consecutive league wins and they could actually go top with a win today. Elgin did get off the mark finally last week , but look a poor side and when these two met here last month in the cup, The Blue Brazil won very comfortably, dominating from the kick off and easing home 2-0. That was probably expected, as they have an incredible record in the fixture, winning on 7 of 9 visits (one draw) here and with 14 wins in 17 meetings home and away, with just a single loss and ten clean sheets ! I am sure that they would be happy playing Elgin every week, the home side will be handicapped by the loss of suspended Ross O'Donoghue and seem to have it all to do, to get anything from this game. This is my strongest bet of the day.