I reckon Stabaek to win their openning game against a well known opponent as a good first bet for me this season here. Both teams are newly promoted, finished 1st and 2nd in the lower league, with Stabaek 5 points ahead of todays visitors.
Sandefjord is the biggest relegation candidat according to local punters and odds of course. Stabaek certainly has more chances to stay up.

Last fixture between these 2 was won by Stabaek with 3-1 and I believe the 3 points here will give them a good start. Cos if they are going to stay in this league, victories over Sandefjord are must ones.

Stabaek visits tromso next round and certainly it will be much harder.

I can take Stabaek today with low stakes, cos its the openning round - 1.80 various books

First of all - this is a fierce derby, so form is not the first thing to look at. Watford arent among the best home sides in the division: 10-5-5, 36-22.
Luton is 5-2-13, 17-33 away from home.

The season is practicly over for Luton, but they are going with all guns blazing for this one as Watford are big rivals of them.

On the other hand the Hornets can move Leeds from the 3rd spot today and they still have direct promotion hopes alive. If they win they will be 7 points behind Sheffield United. If Watford manage to concentrate at a maximum level for the rest of the season I even can see them winning all their fixtures to the end - away at Wolves, at home with Ipswich, away at QPR and home with Hull. All winnable games.
And with Sheffield Utd being totally unfocused in the last months we might see a great end of the season. Its all up to Watford.

Luton plays bad away, were held to 1-1 draw at Brighton, lost from Millwall. But as I said they will try to take something today for sure.

Watford lost previous 2 games and there is no more room for stepping back.
Luton despite playing for nothing will throw everything to win at local rivals.
I can see an exciting game and I think we will see some goals. Thats why I am going for the OVER 2.5 Ladbrokes @1.95

Going to back Bristol Rovers as well. Vital game for them, as for Rushden BTW, but class should prevail here. Rovers are far better side and thats obvious by the league positions these 2 teams hold at the moment.
Rovers are coming from an impressive away win at Wycombe and surely has a lot boosted confidence. Next round they have a game with Carlisle here so a win today is much needed as its gonna be far more difficult for them in the clash with Carlisle.
Rushden also needs the points here badly as they are only 1 point below the salvation places, Torquay is also pushing from behind. Very tight situation in this league and everything will be decided in the final rounds. But Rushden has quite an easy schedule ahead and few pretty winnable games in the final rounds - Barnet, Boston, Rochdale in next round. So its very possible for them to avoid relegation from league football even if they lose today from a determined and in form side.

Team news BBC

Bristol Rovers may have defender Chris Carruthers fit after he limped out of the 3-1 win against Wycombe.
John Anderson will not play again this season after undergoing surgery to correct his long-standing knee problem.

Rushden will have Scott Tynan in goal, continuing as deputy for Daniel Crane, who came off during the win against Torquay with a hand injury.

Lee Tomlin returns to the squad after training with Liverpool, but Gary Mills is a doubt with a hamstring strain.

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Best Rovers player - Walker with 19 goals so far was in doubt of gaining match fitness, but no last minute news and there is more than 50% chances of him playing today.
Agogo / 17 goals / is fit and should start and if Walker makes it that means we will enjoy again one of the most productive attacking pairs in league football. This will be too much for Rushden IMO.

Leyton Orient - Boston

Vital game for Orient as they are only 2 points away from the direct promotion places. And their main rival for the 3rd spot - Northampton have a great chance to pick another 3 points, playing at home with Rochdale, Leyton Orient must win in order at least to keep close on them in case they beat Rochdale. So no need of further motivation for Orient.
Boston managed to beat barnet last round at home 2-1, but they are far from impressive in their last few games. Save from relegation troubles and surely not as huge motivated as leyton.

Team news BBC

Orient have Shane Tudor pushing for a place after playing in the reserves following an absence of more than a month with an ankle injury.
He may have to settle for a place on the bench, with on-loan Wayne Corden impressing in his first two matches.

Boston captain Stewart Talbot is likely to miss his fifth successive game because of a foot injury.

But Peter Till should be fit after recovering from a virus that resulted in him losing half a stone in weight.
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Talbot is definetely out and its clear he is largely missed in Boston squad as without him they look quite vulnerable.

Its clear situation here - Leyton Orient is a better side, has huge motivation to win this one as they are chasing direct promotion and I think they will take what they need from a mediocre side like Boston.

No high stakes in this league of course, but 1.67 at Paddy Power currently looks tasty

Short odds, but perhaps the bet in MLS with least possibility to produce a surprise. Second home game in a row for Dallas after the 3-2 victory over Chicago last weekend, when they came from behind to win all the 3 points here at Pizza Hut Park.

FROM FC DALLAS OFFICIAL PAGE:

TEAM NEWS FC DALLAS

The turning point to the opening win was when Clarke brought on Cooper and Wilson for Nu?±ez and Alvarez - going to a 4-3-3 scheme, with Carlos Ruiz at the targetman, and Mina and Cooper in wider roles. The move was not unexpected, as Clarke has been working toward putting out his team in a 4-3-3 system.
"They had three at the back and if you push three up top, then they've got to make different decisions and adjust to what we're doing," Clarke said. "I wouldn't say that had a direct effect on the goal but [Cooper] was on the field at the right time."
It was a dream start for Kenny Cooper, signed during the offseason from Manchester United, where he played in the reserves. Cooper attended Dallas Jesuit HS; his father Ken played for the Dallas Tornado in the NASL and has been a pioneer in professional soccer in the USA.
"It was exciting. I think that about half the place (was friends and family) so it was definitely a lot of fun to be out there in front of them. Their support means a lot so to score in front of them like that was great."
In addition, the two substitutes made a bid to be part of the starting lineup against Real. "There's going to be a lot of tough decisions. We've talked about the fact that we have a good squad of players; it's pretty deep and that leads to a lot of tough decisions week in and week out," Clarke said.

TEAM NEWS SALT LAKE

TEAM NEWS

Real saw their winless streak extended to 13 games dating back to last season. "It was unexpected," striker Jeff Cunningham said. "I thought we played well, much better, during the preseason games. It was just an off day when we got outplayed and outperformed. But I'm not going to hold my head down, I still think we have a very good team. We just have to make some improvements."
Jason Kreis came on as a 78th-minute substitute, a welcome sign after suffering swelling in his surgically repaired knee following 20 minutes of action in a preseason match in March. "I think that things are moving forward," he said to The Salt Lake Tribune. "I'm hoping they're moving forward, anyway."
Ellinger said he didn't want to speculate how much Kreis would be available for the second weekend of the season. "He seems pretty happy," Ellinger said, "and it was good to get him back on [the field]. Now, it's just a matter of getting him more time."
Ellinger changed to a 3-5-2 system later in the match, bringing on Kenny Cutler to sit in central midfield alongside Douglas Sequeira. Andy Williams moved into attack as Atiba Harris came off.
"That was the whole reason we put Kenny Cutler in was to basically stop the bleeding in the middle of the field, and it got better," said Ellinger. "That's a starting point for us."
Ellinger also intimated there could be a change in the strike partnership for the second match. "When regular games start, it's different. You keep reminding these guys it's a different situation now," said Ellinger. "We gave Atiba his shot, and we'll have to address who's going to be there (next week)."
Yet while Ellinger felt the play of rookie Mehdi Ballouchy was inconsistent, he will likely reprise the left-sided midfield role he played in the opener. Ballouchy was primarily an attacking midfielder in college, the role filled by Andy Williams in the opener. "I still think he was a little too casual at times," said Ellinger to the Deseret News. "There has to be more urgency when you have to get behind somebody and get tight on somebody."
Still, Ellinger said the season certainly wasn't over after one match. "The Galaxy went on the road (last year) and lost 3-0 in Columbus, and they won the MLS Cup," said Ellinger. "Not that we're going to win the MLS Cup, but you can't go by the first game. I'm not going to push any panic buttons because of that."

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Salt Lake together with Chivas were the poorest teams in the regular season. But I believe Chivas managed to change during the break and will be stronger. This cant be said for salt Lake, which seems to be the same weak team from last year. This is my impression for them after the 0-3 loss they had away at Chivas in the openning game last week. Now they visit a stronger opponent than Chivas and it would be a massive shock if they manage to take something from there.

Salt Lake didnt win a single away game in the regular season last year, had 2 draws and lost all the other 14 games with goal diff of 11-41!!!
Dallas was pretty good at home with 8-5-3 and I think they will easily win here this weekend.

HC is also very possible.

Both teams struggling in the league after the first rounds, but there is no doubt Shelbourne is far better side than their opponent tonight. After 3 league games played Shels got only 3 points from 3 draws.
On the other hand Waterford is coming from 3 consecutive losses, 2 for the league and one for the league cup. Its obvious from the beginning of the season that they will struggle once again in the bottom of the table.

Last year Shelbourne won all their 3 games against Waterford, scored 10 goals in them and conceded only 2. League and Shels top scorer Byrne has a good habbit to net plenty of goals against Waterford and for sure we can expect some more today.
Shelbourne has a big Setanta Cup game on Monday against Cork, but I doubt that will affect them too much as they are still looking for their first premier League win this season.
Last meeting between these two ended 5-0 for Shelbourne. A good occasion for Shels to restart their Premier League campaign.

Dont put Boro out of UEFA yet. Plenty of quality in the squad and this game may turn a bad season around. An early goal will show that this 2 goal margin is not so hard to beat and thats exactly what I expect - a strong pressing from Boro in the early minutes.
Southgate and Boateng are fit to play, young lad Cattermole will probably miss it.
Boro has a tough game away at Newcastle in Sunday, but I think now they are used to this hard schedule. Their mind will be only on the game tonight, cos I can hardly imagine they have given up on going to the semis.
Quite high stakes for me, cos I just cant see Boro not winning this one. Probably the game of the year for them.

I am backing Grimsby today. Pressure is on them to bounce back from a pure disaster last round away at Lincoln, where they have been hammered 5-0. Before that they drew away at Rochdale and now are only 2 points ahead of Northampton and 3 ahead of Wycombe and Leyton.

Wrexham is coming from a final for the Welsh cup against Swansea, lost 1-2. This was a hard battle and some important Wrexham players picked knocks.

Grimsby is 11-1-7 at home - not so impressive, but with 4 straight wins at home.
Wrexham is below average away from home with 3 7 8 22 27 record and currently on a 3 league games unbeaten run, which I believe will end today.

team news from BBC

Grimsby have doubts over Gary Cohen (neck injury) and Curtis Woodhouse, who is suffering from a hip strain.
Andy Parkinson, Marc Goodfellow, Jean Paul Kalala and Junior Mendes are all on standby to step in.

Wrexham will be without Matt Derbyshire (flu) and the injured Dean Bennett and Lee Roche (stomach strain).

Mike Ingham, Lee McEvilly, Jim Whitley and Mark Jones face late fitness tests, but Dave Bayliss Alex Smith and Mark Williams are in the squad.

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The injury situation is bad for Wrexham and thats why assistant manager - Russel will start the game. Not sure about his form, cos this is his first competitive game in nearly 4 years
Young on loan striker Derbyshire is a key striker now in Wrexham squad with 8 goals in just 9 starts. So his absence is a huge blow.

All in all I expect a solid performance from Grimsby this time with expected changes in the defense after the big loss in Lincoln. Wrexham must be tired from the final just few days ago and altough this game is as important for them as for Grimsby, hosts should prevail.

Pinnacle offers 1.86 and its very good. 6 points for me

A good offer for the home win I must say as in the face of Coventry we have an extremely strong team at home. Here are the stats:

Last 8 home games Coventry - 6 wins and 2 draws 17-4

As we see sky blues have turned their new Ricoh Arena into fortress recently and I fully expect another strong performance tomorrow.
Preston is coming from a narrow 1-0 win at home against Crew and I must say I am far from impressed from what I??™ve seen in the highlights of this game. Preston had the game advantage before the HT and had 2 or 3 chances to score apart the goal. But in the second half they looked very unfocused, especially in attack. On the opposite Crew had some chances and it wouldn??™t be a big surprise if they??™ve earned the point in this game.
Its turning into clich?© now, but its true that Preston lost at least half of its firing power and creativity with Nugent injury.

Team news from BBC:

Coventry will have Dennis Wise available after a two-game ban and is expected to return.
Claus Jorgensen remains sidelined by a groin injury and will miss out.
Preston have a catalogue of injuries, with Brian O'Neil and Paul McKenna almost certain to miss out after suffering groin strain against Crewe.
Youl Mawene and Brian Stock (both virus) are doubts but Stock has a good chance of being available, but Matt Hill is doubtful with a knee injury.
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Coventry with all guns blazing and especially 39 years old Wise back from suspension is a big boost as the veteran midfielder is enjoying his best form probably since 2-3 seasons ago.
Preston absent and doubtful players / even if take part will not be 100% fit /:
- Brian O'Neil ??“ important midfielder
- Paul McKenna ??“ the soul of Preston midfield, 9 years in the club, over 300 apps, probably their most important player.
- Youl Mawene / defender /
- Brian Stock / midfielder /
Both may play, but are still doubtfull. First team players.
- Matt Hill ??“ first team defender.

We must wait for confirmation of those players being out or not, but there is huge probability at least half of them to be out. If McKenna is out I have no doubts with Wise back in play Coventry will dominate the midfield. I am going for the home win here and feel good about this bet. Stakes ??“ medium as these are the final stages of the competition and this is an important game for Preston.
Pinnacle has amazing 2.40 and most books have 2.25-2.30. 6 points for me.

Local derby, sold out stadium, a game of great importance, especially for Leeds. There will be a hot atmosphere and a good game I expect. Seems Leeds lost tempo nowadays - managed to score 1 goal in last 3 games, winless for 4 games. Its a bit surprising as before this bad streak they were doing fine, won against promotion rivals Palace and Watford, drew away at in form Leicester.
Hull are doing fine lately, even a little above expectations. Taylor is doing a great job there. 7 points from last 3 games means a lot, even if Tigers managed to score only 3 goals in them, but conceded only one. If we look at the games more closely we will see the one of reasons I am backing Leeds here - 1-0 win over Crew, 1-0 over Plymouth and last weekend 1-1 away at Ipswich. All of them average teams. Hull was lucky to take the point in Ipswich as the hosts had quite good chances to win the game. Now they are opposing a team with a solid defense and I am not sure it will be easy for Hull strikers to break it.
2nd place hopes still alive for Blackwell and his boys with 6 games ahead and exerything to play for and this makes this hame a must win. It is followed by a home game against Plymouth and if Leeds manages to win both it will give them a real boost before the games with Reading and Sheffield Utd / a game that may decide both teams seasons /.

Team news BBC:

Hull are boosted by the return to fitness of Alan Rogers and Stuart Elliott, who missed the game at Ipswich because of illness.
Aside from long-term absentees Nick Barmby, Steve McPhee, Ben Burgess, Ian Ashbee and Danny Coles, Hull have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Leeds have a near full-strength squad to choose from, with exception of Gylfi Einarsson, who has a virus. Sean Gregan missed training with the same illness, but should be fit.

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Both teams will field strong squads and a hard derby battle is expected. But I just cant see Hull keeping a long unbeaten run. They need just 3-5 points to secure their Championship football for yet another year, and for sure pressure is on Leeds.
Hostile crowd is expected, but Leeds should be used to play like this. I will go for the visitors with 5/10. @2.30 Expekt, 2.25 - various books.

Openning weekend in MLS and first good offer I find. After a very disappointing campaign last year Kansas City cant wait for the season to start in order to bounce back. With a home game in the first round they will go for the 3 points here and there is no doubt about it. The biggest news in their camp is the superb Transfer of Eddie Johnson from Dallas, national team striker with 13 goals in MLS last season from 15 starts. Kansas already has a strong attack in the faces of Wolff and Sealy and now they are looking pretty lethal upfront with the arrivel of Johnson.
Coach speaking of changing the tactics and playing with 3 forwards now as none of them really deserves to sit on the bench, but I think they will have a more careful approach in the openning game and will start with Wolff and Johnson upfront. This may be the most profilic attacking pair in the league this season, so I am really eager to see how these 2 strikers will manage to play together.
The opponents - Columbus wasnt the most scoring team last year as they managed to score 34 goals in 32 games. Their leading goalscorer from past season - Buddle is not in the team anymore, his young replacement Gaven will step in.

All in all I expect a good game from Kansas and hopefuly with some goals for them with the turbo attack they posses, but I recommend only medium or low stakes as surprises are always possible in the early stages.