Free football betting tips: Sky Bet League One - Plymouth Argyle v Portsmouth
Monday night sees action from Sky Bet League One where Plymouth welcome Portsmouth. Tom Carnduff picks out two best bets.
Recommended bets
1pt e.w. Conor Grant to be first goalscorer at 18/1 (1/3 1-98)
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Plymouth v Portsmouth
- 19:45 GMT kick-off on Sky Sports Football
- Match odds: Home 13/5 | Draw 5/2 | Away 11/10
Perhaps the perfect fixture for a Monday night during the international break as the best home side in Sky Bet League One face the team with the best away record. Plymouth have secured 16 from a possible 18 at home, while Portsmouth have seen 13 points from 15 on the road.
The Asian Handicap has Portsmouth at -0.5 currently which has pushed Plymouth's odds out to an attractive 13/5 on the day before the game. It's sometimes difficult to argue with that but looking at form, and key players missing on both sides, it is worth backing a home win on price alone given their recent showings.
The hosts will be without the in-form Luke Jephcott as he is with Wales under-21s while Ronan Curtis is absent for Portsmouth given his involvement with the Republic of Ireland. When you start taking players like that out of the mix it really opens it up for both sides; Curtis netted two goals in his last three league appearances.
Jephcott has five so far this season so both sides will be without a strong source for goals. The positive for the hosts is that Ryan Lowe has a near fully-fit squad to choose from, while Portsmouth have to battle on without Michael Jacobs, captain Tom Naylor and Sean Raggett who are all out.
One player who is worth keeping an eye on, and backing when it comes to scoring, is Plymouth midfielder Conor Grant. He was a regular starter before a positive Covid test meant that he had to miss a couple of League One contests. The midfielder returned in style, scoring after coming off the bench at half-time against Swindon.
Interestingly, all three of his league goals this season have come from outside the area, and if he is starting, perhaps the 12/1 with Sky Bet on Grant striking from outside the box here may be worth backing. Instead, if indeed he does return to the starting XI, the 18/1 available on him scoring first is too big to turn down given other absentees.
His free-kick against Swindon was the only goal of the second-half and his appearance against Newport in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday suggests they could be giving him more regular minutes to get up to match fitness again.
Neither side sits high in the fouls count this season so we shouldn't expect a huge number of chances to strike from set-piece situations, but Grant has demonstrated that if the opportunity arises, he can score from distance and that gives added hope to this bet.
Score prediction: Plymouth 2-1 Portsmouth (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Best bet: Plymouth to win at 13/5
Odds correct at 1545 GMT (15/11/20)
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