Millwall v Scunthorpe: Back Lions to take first-leg at fortress Den
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It’s official – it’s play-off season! And for neutrals at least, it offers some of the best football of the entire season.
And it all gets underway with the League One showdowns between Millwall and Scunthorpe, plus Fleetwood versus Bradford.
We’re focusing on the clash in south London here, and though the Lions finished sixth to the Iron’s third, it’s Millwall who we expect to steal the first-leg advantage.
Our traders agree too, making Neil Harris’ side 10/11 favourites, with their Yorkshire visitors 11/4 outsiders.
The reasoning is this, aside from a 3-0 anomaly to Oxford, Millwall have been simply superb at the Den.
That defeat to United is their sole loss in the last 16 on home soil – and that includes the visit of three Premier League sides in the Emirates FA Cup.
Millwall have kept 11 clean sheets in that spell too, conceding just seven.
Couple that with Scunthorpe’s dismal away form which has seen them fail to win 11 of their last 14 on the road, and we’re looking at a home win here.
Millwall have enjoyed very recent success in this fixture too, defeating the Glandford Park outfit 3-1 just a month ago.
And given that Graham Alexander’s side have scored in all but two of their away games this season, you’ve got to fancy a Lions win and both teams to score at 16/5.
Another 3-1 home success is 16/1, while 2-1 to Millwall is 15/2.
Or if you can’t quite call the score, Harris’ side to win and over 2.5 goals is 9/4.
Both sides will be acutely aware that the tables will be very-much turned in Sunday’s second-leg, with Millwall winning only of their last 14 away games.
So there’s every onus on the Londoners to get the job done in this first encounter, and the statistics suggest they’ll give it a mighty good go.
