It’s Halloween this weekend and I’m hoping to scare the bookies into submission with another edition of my team goals treble. We’ve got the added bonus of the National League returning as well which means plenty to choose from so let’s hope for a winner!
Eastleigh vs Halifax
I’m starting at the bottom this weekend in what looks like a banker of a selection. Halifax really have been disappointing this season after such a promising spell under Neil Aspin over the past few years.
The visitors are in their 3rd season at this level and having finished 5th and 9th in the previous 2, many expected them to be pushing for the playoffs again this year. But having parted ways with Aspin following a run of disappointing results, they languish 2nd from bottom of the National League having collected just 10 points from 18 games.
Darren Kelly took charge at the beginning of October and it’s been a mixed bag of results since. A 1-7 home loss to Cheltenham was followed by a 1-3 away win at Altrincham and their visit to Grimsby in a 7-0 loss earlier this month means that Kelly’s side have shipped 23 goals in 7 games so far this month.
They’ve also been given a pretty heavy fixture list, this trip to Eastleigh being their 8th game in October whereas this will be the hosts’ 6th. Eastleigh currently sit 10th in the league and have been in pretty decent form as of late. They’re unbeaten in 4 games now in all competitions, scoring 2 or more goals in 3 of those 4 and here at The Silverlake Stadium, only Braintree have stopped them scoring.
Last season Halifax were a much better side than they are now and Eastleigh still put 6 goals past them over their two meetings. I expect them to continue that trend today.
BET: Eastleigh Over 1.5 Team Goals at 1/2 with Coral
Ayr United vs Stranraer
I’m off north of the border next as Ayr United take on Stranraer in the Scottish League One. Eagle eyed readers may notice that this is the 2nd time in succession that Stranraer have been included in my team goals treble, though last time I backed them to score 2 goals against a Cowdenbeath side who were leaking them left, right and centre.
Instead, Stranraer lost 0-3 at home to them, so this week I’m changing tracks and going against them. The visitors have suffered back to back 0-3 losses to sides at different ends of the spectrum, but today they face pretty tough opposition in Ayr and the amount they concede could well surpass their last few results.
Ayr have scored an average of 3.00 goals per game here at Somerset Park this season, a record matched only by league leaders Dunfermline, and having scored 2 or more goals in 8 of their last 10 league games, it’s pretty hard not to back them to repeat that today.
The two sides have already met once this season with Ayr taking all 3 points away at Stranraer in a 1-2 win back in August. On that occasion it was a close affair, yet Ayr still managed to find the net twice.
If they don’t score at least 3 or 4 times here today I’d be surprised but let’s just stick with them to score 2 goals for now instead of being greedy!
BET: Ayr United Over 1.5 Team Goals at 8/13 with Coral
Werder Bremen vs Borussia Dortmund
I’ve been sitting on the fence with this bet for about an hour now and I’ve decided I’m just going to include it. The odds are a bit shorter than I would like for a single, and it’s not my normal thing to go venturing across to Europe to find a bet as I’m normally just in the UK, but you know what, this is a treble that I want to win, so I’m including it as it looks an absolute steal.
If you follow your Bundesliga football, you’ll know that Dortmund are absolutely flying at the moment. Unlike their ex-managers new team (Liverpool) they are literally scoring for fun in every competition and a massive part of that has been in-form striker Aubameyang.
Dortmund themselves have scored an incredible 17 goals in their last 4 competitive matches, including putting 7 goals past lower league Paderborn in the cup this week. Their last Bundesliga outing saw them breeze past Augsburg 5-1, Aubameyang scoring 3 of those 5 goals, his second hattrick in successive games.
Bremen may have held Bayern to a 0-1 defeat here, but I just can’t ignore the form that Dortmund are in. And when you consider their previous visits to Weserstadion, scoring 11 goals in their previous 3 games here, it’s scary to think what they could do to a Bremen side who have hardly been in fine form so far this campaign, sitting 5th from bottom without a single clean sheet in the league after 10 games.
BET: Dortmund Over 1.5 Team Goals at 4/11 with Coral
A £20 bet on the treble returns £65 with Coral