Mark O'Haire's football betting tips, best bets and nap: East Fife a fun follow and goals in France
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Football betting tips: Mark O'Haire
2.5pts Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals in East Fife v Elgin at evens (bet365)
2.5pts Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals in Lyon v Lille at 9/10 (10bet)
Lyon v Lille
- Kick-off time: 19:45 BST, Sunday
- TV Channel: BT Sport 2
- Home 21/20 | Draw 11/4 | Away 23/10
Sunday night’s primetime slot in Ligue 1 has the potential to be a thriller as Lyon welcome Lille to the Groupama Stadium and BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND OVER 2.5 GOALS holds plenty of appeal considering the two teams’ offensive style of play, as well as the league’s high-scoring nature this season.
Lyon bagged their first domestic success since the start of September last time out, overcoming Montpellier 2-1. An Alexandre Lacazette strike in the fifth minute of added time secured top honours, although Les Gones were much more convincing than the final scoreline suggested and the seven-time champions have impressed in the final-third.
Lacazette is now partnered by Moussa Dembele in a new-look system employed by new head coach Laurent Blanc, and the early signs are promising with Houssem Aouar flourishing following his return from injury. Now backed by a vociferous home crowd, Lyon will expect to enhance their recent run of scoring in 23 of their previous 25 league games as hosts.
Visitors Lille have been the great entertainers in France this term. Paolo Fonseca’s in-form troops were involved in a fabulous 4-3 win over Monaco last time out as they made it five triumphs from six. Les Dogues’ front-foot and fearless approach has seen the side get on the scoresheet in every game in 2022/23 with only table-topping PSG notching more often.
Jonathan David is LOSC’s shining light up top, although summer signing Remy Cabella has reminded French football fans of his creativity and influence, and has been supported by the likes of Jonathan Bamba, Adam Ounas and Angel Gomes. The visitors are blessed with match-winning and game-changing options, yet have a habit of being exposed defensively.
Despite picking up back-to-back clean sheets recently, Lille reminded us of their rearguard fragility against Monaco, making a series of sloppy mistakes, and that’s a concern when heading to a Lyon side that’s registered multiple goals in 16 of their aforementioned 25 Groupama Stadium games going back to the beginning of last term.
Goals are therefore the sensible solution. A tasty 76% of those 25 tussles featured Both Teams To Score winners, and this term alone the same wager has clicked in nine of Lyon’s 12 Ligue 1 encounters across all venues. The hosts have kept a solitary clean sheet and scored in all bar two of those 12, whilst Lille’s trends are overwhelmingly impressive.
Lille have crossed the Over 2.5 Goals barrier in 10 of their 12 contests, and delivered profitable BTTS results in 10 of 12, as fixtures have featured a huge 3.83 goals per-game average.
East Fife v Elgin
- Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday
- Home 13/10 | Draw 23/10 | Away 7/4
Scotland’s League Two is the UK’s highest-scoring league this season with the fourth-tier averaging 3.09 goals per-game, 64% of fixtures featuring three goals or more and 62% delivering Both Teams To Score pay-outs.
A rock-solid 56% of overall outings have combined to see BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND OVER 2.5 GOALS land and a repeat appeals at 1/1 (2.00) with Bet365 when East Fife entertain Elgin on Saturday afternoon.
East Fife arrive fresh from back-to-back victories on their travels. The 3-1 and 4-1 triumphs have pushed Greig McDonald’s men up to third, although performance data ratings suggest the hosts are overperforming. The Fifers are rock-bottom of the shot ratio rankings, and have suffered defeats in four of their five fixtures in front of their Bayview supporters.
Nevertheless, the Fife have netted in nine of 11 league dates and boast a paltry tally of just two shutouts thus far. Over 2.5 Goals has clicked on eight occasions and this weekend they’re welcoming one of the league’s most goal-heavy outfits in Elgin.
The visitors are the division’s second-top goalscorers, yet the Black & Whites have also shipped the third-most goals, with matches averaging a lofty 3.64 goals. Eight of 11 have breached the Over 2.5 Goals barrier, seven have seen four goals or more with Elgin striking in all bar one and managing to silence their opponents only twice this term.
Elgin’s away days have proven particularly wild with City’s showdowns ending 2-2, 2-2, 2-1, 3-3 and 2-3. And so with the two teams combining to see 15/22 (69%) of their collective contests reward Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals backers, I’m happy to support a repeat on Saturday at even money.
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