Sporting Life
Mark O'Haire's weekend best bets and tips

Mark O'Haire's football betting tips, best bets and nap: Gillingham and Union Berlin to win

By Mark O'Haire
Football
Sun February 19, 2023 · 3y ago

After a clean sweep last week, Mark O'Haire is back with his weekly tipping column which has returned +22.2pts profit so far this season.

  • Mark O'Haire column 21/22: +21.8pts profit | 15% return on investment
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Football betting tips: Mark O'Haire

2.5pts Gillingham to win Draw no Bet v Rochdale at 10/11 (Sky Bet, Unibet)

2.5pts Union Berlin to win and Under 4.5 Goals v Schalke at 4/5 (General)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

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Union Berlin v Schalke

Union Berlin are involved in Europa League action on Thursday night but I’m backing Urs Fischer's unfashionable outfit to extend their exceptional Bundesliga winning streak when they return to domestic duty on Sunday against rock-bottom Schalke.

Last weekend Die Eisernen secured their fifth successive win since the World Cup break with a mightily impressive 2-1 triumph at fellow title challengers RB Leipzig. The result leaves Union sitting second in the standings after 20 rounds of action (W13-D3-L4) and just one point shy of table-topping Bayern Munich.

Union have now notched multiple goals in all five of their victories and have also secured a place in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals during their extraordinary exploits. And considering the hosts’ enticing home record, I’m more than happy to support UNION BERLIN TO WIN & UNDER 4.5 GOALS at an attractive 4/5 on Sunday afternoon.

Union have posted W7-D2-L0 at their fortress Stadion An der Alten Forsterei base, already beating the likes of Leipzig, Dortmund, Gladbach and Wolfsburg here. The Berlin boys have scored twice or more in eight of those nine league encounters, and their impressive results in Kopenick extend far beyond this current campaign.

Since the start of 2021/22, Union have returned W17-D7-L2 on home soil – that’s a 65% win rate with both defeats arriving against last season’s top-two finishers (Bayern and Dortmund). Die Eisernen are a formidable force here and should prove strong enough to pick up another positive performance considering Schalke’s lowly standards.

Die Königsblauen have churned out three successive 0-0 draws against reasonable opposition to move to within five points of the Bundesliga relegation play-off place, yet Schalke have lost 12 of their overall 20 tussles and managed to collect just three points from a possible 27 on their travels (W0-D3-L6), scoring four goals on the road.

Thomas Reiss’ team have averaged only 2.40 shots on-target in games as guests have suffered eight defeats in winless 10 contests with top-half teams (W0-D2-L8), netting just three goals in the process. With that in mind, I’m quite happy to oppose Schalke on Sunday.

Unsurprisingly, the market has already moved in Union’s favour but we can include the Under 4.5 Goals angle to bolster the odds on offer – only six of the duos combined 40 league fixtures thus far have featured five goals or more.

Rochdale v Gillingham

Gillingham are a club transformed over the past couple of months. The Kent club underwent a change of ownership during the winter with American investors Brad and Shannon Galinson lifting the gloom around the League Two side and empowering manager Neil Harris with a sizeable transfer budget as well as fresh hope, energy and aspirations.

The Gills made some serious moves in January to strengthen an ailing squad and the mood around the Priestfield Stadium has dramatically altered. A sold-out stadium, and a side that are starting to showcase their true talents have created a real buzz around the club with results dramatically improving since the turn of the year.

Gillingham were edged out 1-0 by high-flying Stevenage soon after New Year’s Day but have since accumulated 13 points from a possible 18 to move off the bottom of the EFL and out of the relegation zone. A team that couldn’t score before 2023 have now notched multiple goals in four of their past six, and recorded three clean sheets in that same sample.

Top of the six-game form table in League Two, GILLINGHAM are well worth siding with in the DRAW NO BET market at 10/11 with Sky Bet and Unibet when they travel to fellow strugglers Rochdale on Saturday.

Dale earned a deserved point against promotion-chasing Northampton here last weekend, but the Lancashire outfit endured a really tough workout in midweek when going down to defeat against Leyton Orient in the capital. That reverse means Rochdale have returned W0-D1-L5 over their last six fixtures and their long-term results are drab at best.

Rochdale have won only five times in 31 and managed a paltry four clean sheets in 2022/23. The hosts have scored twice or more just four times and suffered 20 overall defeats, including 10 from 15 at Spotland. Jim Bentley’s boys are posting one of the worst Expected Goals (xG) outputs in the division and have won once when welcoming bottom-half sides.

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