League One tips: Goals on the cards as Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Ipswich ramp up title fight
- George Dempsey
- 14 April 2023
The League One season continues to twist and turn with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich Town and Barnsley still battling for promotion to the Championship.
With only two points seperating the top three, the battle for the League One crown could go down to the wire.
All three contenders will be looking to secure wins as they take on tricky opposition this weekend.
Suggested betting tips
Exeter vs Plymouth
Games don't come much bigger than a Devon derby between Exeter and City and Plymouth Argyle! Well, maybe they do. But you try telling that to the fans of either side.
Exeter and Plymouth served up a dramatic, goal-filled second half to cap a pulsating affair when they met at Home Park.
Exeter raced in to a 2-0 lead before Morgan Whittaker reduced the deficit. A goal from Bali Mumba and a late Ryan Hardie brace handed the Pilgrims the bragging rights on that day.
It had been five long years since the sides last met. The fixture does have a history of goals, and Exeter could prove dangerous with nothing riding on the game for them.
Plymouth's sloppy defending over the Easter weekend gave them an unscalable mountain to climb as they were beaten 2-0 by Lincoln, and they were also caught cold when Morecambe opened the scoring after three minutes.
You'd expect Exeter to come flying out of the traps here and do their best to scupper Plymouth's promotion plans. An early goal could be the key to this being a wide-open contest.
Burton Albion vs Sheffield Wednesday
Results around the league have piled the pressure on Wednesday in recent weeks. They'll need to make the most of every game having played one game more than the sides around.
A trip to face Burton Albion doesn't sound a particularly tricky fixture at this stage of the season, but just ask Barnsley about their chastening experience at the Pirelli Stadium.
Burton have embraced the role of spoiler in recent weeks. A surprise 2-1 victory over Wycombe has left the Wanderers three points off the playoffs, and the win over Barnsley may have ended their push for automatic promotion.
Sheffield Wednesday recorded a 3-0 victory over Accrington Stanley last time out. It was their first win in six matches and, despite that run, helped them return to the top of the table.
The Owls have won just three of their eight away matches since the turn of the year, a run which included a rather embarrassing 1-0 loss to Forest Green Rovers.
Darren Moore's men will hope their struggles are behind them but Burton could prove dangerous opposition as they look to preserve their League One status.
Ipswich vs Charlton Athletic
Ipswich were far from their brilliant best during their 1-1 draw away to Cheltenham Town on Easter Monday.
Town seemed to have misplaced their shooting boots in the first half, although a gradual improvement in the tempo during the second half allowed Connor Chaplin to put them in front on 64 minutes.
Town were unable to make the most of some glorious chances to seal the game and had to settle for a point after Alfie May's 84th-minute equaliser.
The draw halted their winning run at eight and May's goal was the first that the Tractor Boys had conceded since February 11th against Sheffield Wednesday.
Charlton have picked up 13 points in their last six games to put an end to any lingering fears they may be dragged into a relegation dogfight.
The Addicks have recorded wins over Morecambe, Cambridge, Shrewsbury and Burton. With the greatest of respect to those sides, it wasn't a challenging stretch of games.
They did also pick up a good point against Wycombe, but they were so on the beach in a 1-0 loss to Bristol Rovers they may as well have played in flip-flops.
Athletic aren't likely to roll over here but only Plymouth and Wednesday have left Portman Road with a point since early December, and the hosts have recently realised that winning your home games is easy if you just score four every week.
