Dover Athletic v Sutton United Betting Tips

After finishing fifth last season, before losing in the play-offs, many people were expecting a bold showing from Dover this season but, although not disgraced, they haven’t exactly burst into life and currently sit 9th in the division. On the other hand, Sutton, having come up from the National League South last season, have proved that they can certainly hold their own at this level and sit just one place below Dover in 10th position.

The problem for the hosts this season is that they’ve been a bit all or nothing. They’ve either won well and impressed or they’ve lost. With just one draw to their name in 14 matches, there hasn’t been much in between. On a number of occasions already this season, the south coast side have looked likely to go on a real winning run only to see it firmly halted by tasting defeat next time out. Their last three matches are the perfect example of this, having beaten York City and Lincoln City, 1-0 and 2-0 respectively, today’s hosts looked to be building good momentum, but, once again, this momentum was short lived as they were humbled 5-0 away at Chester last time out. However, back in front of their own fans today, they are fancied to bounce back and build on what is actually a fairly impressive home record this season.

Firstly, at odds of 6/5, ‘Dover to Win’ is well worth a go here. It is in front of a home crowd where Dover have been at their best this season and, against a Sutton side who seemingly can’t avoid defeat on the road of late, the hosts look a good bet.

The home side might have lost two of their six matches at their own ground this season, but this doesn’t exactly tell the full story, while, more importantly, they’ve won four – winning well each time. One of those losses can be attributed to going down to ten men (when winning), while the other was a single goal loss in a very tight match against Aldershot (a team currently residing inside the top five).

As for the visitors, although they have performed with credit this season, they certainly haven’t traveled too well of late. It’s more than six weeks since their last win on the road and they’ve now lost four consecutive away matches. What’s perhaps more alarming for the visitors is the fact that, in these four losses, they’ve only scored one goal (they’ve conceded eight). A good start to the season could quickly be forgotten if Sutton don’t get a reprieve on the road soon, although they aren’t fancied to get one here.

Sutton aren’t the highest scoring team regardless of whether they’re playing home or away and are much more of a side who try to keeps things tight and frustrate. However, this tactic might not hold much sway against a Dover side who really do come on strong at home. The hosts are known for playing attacking football in front of their own fans and have an impressive goal record which showcases this. Only two teams can better Dover’s average of 2.17 goals per home match, making the south coast team the third highest scorers in the division when playing on their own patch.

At odds of 11/10 ‘Dover to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ is another very appealing selection ahead of this match. Scoring goals at home is something that seemingly comes easy to Dover. The hosts have scored in all six of their home matches this season, netting a total of 13 goals. They’ve also scored at least two goals in all four of their home wins, surpassing this total on two occasions.

Teams who score lots of goals genuinely have at least one natural goalscorer in their ranks. In Ricky Miller and Ross Lafayette Dover have two. This centre-forward pairing have 12 goals between them this season and it would be no surprise at all if they were to add to this tally against Sutton on Tuesday night.

All things considered, against a side who’re really struggling for points on the road, this looks like an excellent opportunity for Dover to continue both their winning and goal-scoring form in front of a home crowd.

See more tips here.