Tuesday's EFL preview: free football tips, best bets and analysis

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's EFL games.

Best bets

Peterborough
3pts 21-20 BoyleSports, Sky Bet
Swindon
3pts 10-11bet365
Northampton draw no bet
3pts 4-5 general
Crewe
2pts 6-4 general
Walsall draw no bet
2pts 10-11 Betfred

Verdicts

Tranmere Rovers v Peterborough United

Peterborough are the EFL's top scorers with 18 goals in seven games and their swift rise up the Sky Bet League One table can continue with a victory over Tranmere at Prenton Park.

There is an open feel to the third-tier promotion race with four points covering the top ten teams, but sixth-placed Peterborough look strong candidates to push for a top-two finish.

They took just one point from their first three games but responded with four successive wins, including a 6-0 demolition of Rochdale at London Road on Saturday.

Powerful striker Ivan Toney bagged a hat-trick against Dale, taking his seasonal tally to seven, but he is just part of a potent three-pronged attack featuring fellow striker Mo Eisa (five goals) and attacking midfielder Marcus Maddison (five goals).

Rochdale, who had kept three clean sheets in the previous four league games, had no answer to Peterborough's front three and their experience does not bode well for Tranmere, who are 19th.

Rovers have banked just five points from seven games and three of those were courtesy of a 5-0 success at home to a youthful Bolton side.

Micky Mellon's outfit have lost their cutting edge since the sale of star striker James Norwood to Ipswich and they may face a battle to stay up.

Swindon Town v Colchester United

Not far off Peterborough in the goalscoring stakes are Sky Bet League Two highflyers Swindon, who have netted 17 times in eight league games.

Town rose to second after a 3-0 victory at home to Macclesfield on Saturday and they should follow up by defeating Colchester at the County Ground.

Colchester have an EFL Cup third-round tie at home to Tottenham to look forward to next Tuesday but they are not living up to expectations in the league.

They are the division's joint-second lowest scorers with six goals in eight games and were toothless for large parts of a 1-0 defeat at Forest Green on Saturday.

Colchester have been solid at the back, conceding once in their last four league matches, but will be stretched by a Swindon side spearheaded by Eoin Doyle (seven league goals in six appearances) and Jerry Yates (four in five).

Stevenage v Northampton Town

Inconsistent Northampton have not achieved back-to-back wins this season but that could change with a victory over struggling Stevenage at Broadhall Way.

Keith Curle's side were worthy 2-0 winners at home to Newport on Saturday, ending the Welsh side's unbeaten sequence of 17 league games, and should fancy their chances against the basement boys, who are the only winless team in the division.

Stevenage have had rotten luck with injuries and decided on a change of leadership last week with caretaker-manager Mark Sampson replacing Dino Maamria in the dugout.

But there was no immediate bounce as Boro lost 3-2 at home to Carlisle.

The Hertfordshire strugglers have shipped seven goals in their last two matches and their problems could be exacerbated by Northampton side showing signs of improvement.

Leyton Orient v Crewe Alexandra

Everything seemed to go wrong for Crewe when they lost 3-2 at home to Cambridge on Saturday but they look a good team this season and can get back on track by beating Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road.

Veteran midfielder Paul Green was the weekend villain for Crewe, picking up a 41st-minute red card for a horrendous challenge on Samir Carruthers.

Despite playing more than half of the match with ten men, Crewe did a lot of good things and were undone by a harsh penalty decision midway through the second half.

They dropped to fifth in the table but are still six points superior to Leyton Orient, who are adjusting to life at a higher level.

The Londoners should have enough to stay up but they may struggle to cope with Crewe, who have the second-best away record in the section.

Morecambe v Walsall

Darrell Clarke is coming under a lot of pressure in the Walsall dugout after a nine-game winless sequence but his team can take a step in the right direction by beating Morecambe at the Globe Arena.

Walsall conceded a comical own goal in a 1-0 loss at home to Bradford on Saturday. But they played well enough against the Bantams, winning the shot count 19 to 11.

They may have better luck against the struggling Shrimps, who have conceded 20 goals in their last six games.

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