Fleetwood v Southend Betting Tips: Cod Army to keep pushing forward

This League One match is a derby between two of Britain’s fishing hotspots as Fleetwood play host Southend United at Highbury Stadium.

Fleetwood may have lost their unbeaten run of 13 in all competitions when they crashed out of the FA Cup to Championship side Bristol City in their recent third round replay, however, they are still unbeaten in the league in their last 11 matches – a particularly impressive run which has seen them win five on the bounce. This has pushed them right into the play-offs with Fleetwood currently sitting 4th – seven points clear of the cut off point.

The Trawlermen’s excellent run of games has been based on defensive solidity and they have kept five clean sheets in their last six games whilst their overall league record of just 29 conceded in 28 matches is even better than league leaders Sheffield United, who Fleetwood beat in their last match. Fortunately for them, they are also quite effective in the final third with 42 league goals scored, bettering the other three teams in the play-off places. However, they have only registered once in three of their last five league matches and so manager Uwe Rosler will be hoping, having notched twice in the week, that his team have re-found their shooting boots.

As expected from a team on such a run, the Cod Army’s home record has been absolutely fantastic with just one league defeat all season, whilst they have also won seven of their last eight League One matches at Highbury Stadium.

Whilst Fleetwood are undoubtedly on the best run out of all the League One teams at the moment, Southend United are going quietly under the radar with a decent spell of their own. They currently sit in 7th, just three points off the play-offs following a run of just one defeat in their last 15 league matches.

The Shrimpers certainly base their game on attacking the opposition rather than focusing too much about what happens at the back. They are more than capable of, and often have, scoring three goals or more in a match and their overall goals record of 39 in the league is pretty impressive, bettering two of the other three teams currently inside the play-off places. As previously mentioned, they are not the best at the back as proved by the fact they have only kept one clean sheet in their last four league outings.

After being terrible on the road in the second half of last season and at the start of this one (13 defeats in 20 league matches prior to 22nd October 2016), Phil Brown’s men have turned their away form around and are currently undefeated in their last six League One matches on their travels, winning three of them.

Even though Southend do have a good away record recently, it is worth noting that they have only won one of their last three matches away from Roots Hall. So, with this in mind, along with Fleetwood’s excellent run of form, particularly at home, it’s hard to oppose the home win, especially at odds of 5/4.

Rosler’s men are likely to brimming with confidence having beaten the league leaders during the week and can continue their excellent run here.

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