Goals at Griffin Park?

It was good to start with a solid pick-up last Saturday, Millwall proving much too good for a moderate Oldham team at The New Den. The Lions will be there all the way this season and may well pick up three more points at MK Dons, who fell away to nothing last term and have much to prove.

I am not deeply into backing away teams, however, and I shall also leave any Premier League predictions, apart from Tottenham and Liverpool having the best chances in the title race, to next week, when we shall be back from Canada.

As you know, my nap for the season is Newcastle to win the Championship and there is not a great deal of point in backing them every week as they embark upon their long journey. For a start, if your initial bet is big enough it should stand alone, whilst Rafa Benitez’s team will often be very poor value, as we saw at Fulham the other night. Having said that, I think they will beat Huddersfield.

The only wager this weekend is both teams to score when Brentford entertain Ipswich in the Championship. Dean Smith has picked up the reins in grand style at Brentford, who are many people’s choice for a play-off place at least. I reserve judgement on that but they are an attractive side, capable of scoring against most teams at this level.

Mick McCarthy has held on at Ipswich and you always wish the good guys well. It surprised me a bit, though, because he has had more time to return them to the top flight than most managers are given (however unreasonable that often seems) and the Tractor Boys will need to build on their good start. In the end they were only just denied a play-off place last time, which probably influenced the board’s thinking. The team scores freely and this has the makings of an informative, attractive encounter. Both to score is the call.