Dan Childs: Best bets for Saturday's EFL football

When to bet

Kick-offs 3pm Saturday

Best bets

Sunderland draw no bet
2pts 8-11 BoyleSports, Ladbrokes
Blackburn +0.25 on Asian handicap
2pts 21-25bet365
Northampton
1pt 21-20 bet365
Grimsby
1pt 7-4 bet365

Verdicts

Lincoln v Sunderland

Sunderland supporters have vented their frustrations at times this season but their team has lost just once in 13 matches and should be too strong for Lincoln at Sincil Bank.

Life in Sky Bet League One is not something Sunderland want to get used to, so there was bitter disappointment when the Black Cats lost 2-1 to Charlton in last season's playoff final.

Part of the problem was too many draws – 19 from 46 games in the regular season – and there are concerns that the issue has not been resolved.

Sunderland have shared the points four times in ten league matches this season and their 1-1 stalemate at basement boys Bolton a fortnight ago did not go down well with the travelling fans, who vented their anger at manager Jack Ross.

Improvement was needed and it came four days later when Sunderland won 1-0 at Sheffield United in the EFL Cup third round.

The Black Cats backed up the victory with a 2-1 success at home to MK Dons last Saturday and head for Lincoln with a stronger squad after classy winger Aiden McGeady and striker Marc McNulty returned to full training.

While Sunderland look to be over their mini-crisis, Lincoln are struggling to get used to life after Danny Cowley.

They took one point from three matches under caretaker-manager Jamie McCombe and made a losing start under new permanent boss Michael Appleton, going down 2-1 at Blackpool last Friday.

Staying up will be their main aim for the rest of the season but they will struggle to add to their tally against the resurgent Wearsiders.

QPR v Blackburn

Reaching the playoffs is a realistic ambition for QPR and Blackburn, who are likely to be involved in a closely-fought encounter at Loftus Road.

The markets favour QPR but the match could go either way and there is value in siding with Blackburn in receipt of a 0.25-goal start on the Asian handicap, which returns a half-stakes profit if they draw and a full-stakes profit if they win.

QPR have made some smart moves this summer, appointing a good manager in Mark Warburton, and some decent players – notably loanees Nahki Wells and Jordan Hugill, who have bagged five goals each.

The Hoops are likely to improve considerably on last season's 19th place but they are going through a short-term slump, losing 2-0 at home to West Brom and 3-0 at Cardiff.

It could be a good time to play Warburton's side and Blackburn go into the match with confidence after bossing large parts of a 1-1 draw at home to highflyers Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Rovers have won on two of their last three road trips and another away success could be on the cards.

Northampton v Leyton Orient

Injury-time goals have denied Northampton victories in recent Sky Bet League Two matches at home to Crawley (2-2) and at Morecambe (2-2) but Keith Curle's side can brush aside the disappointment by defeating Leyton Orient.

There are clear signs of improvement from Northampton, who are unbeaten in four games and have some winnable games coming up.

The fixture against fourth-bottom Leyton Orient are the first of four against opponents situated inside the bottom nine, and a decent haul of points could see them climb towards the playoff positions.

While Northampton eye a promotion push, Orient will be satisfied with consolidating in the fourth tier.

They have found life difficult since winning the National League and their defensive record – 21 goals conceded – is the worst in the division.

The Londoners head for Northampton on a seven-game winless streak but are taking their time to find a long-term replacement for interim manager Ross Embleton, who has asked to return to coaching duties.

They dug deep for Embleton last weekend – twice coming from behind to draw 3-3 at home to Port Vale – but may struggle to cope against the Cobblers.

Grimsby v Mansfield

Grimsby look a much-improved team this season and can consolidate their League Two playoff position by defeating Mansfield at Blundell Park.

Before the season started few people were mentioning Grimsby as promotion candidates but there was a lot of love for Mansfield, who had made ambitious moves in the transfer market.

However, Grimsby are up to seventh after back-to-back league wins and Mansfield have slipped to 20th – eight points adrift of the top seven and only five above basement boys Stevenage.

Mansfield manager John Dempster is coming under pressure and has admitted to simplifying his training methods in an effort to engineer an improvement.

Confidence is ebbing away after a draw and three defeats in their last four games and the Stags may suffer another setback.

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