The Panel's Football League Tips: Tom Lee's Double For Saturday

Tom Lee's Panel Tips For Saturday, December 21:

• Tom Lee's Panel Tip 1: Wycombe To Beat Bolton - 23/20 With William Hill
• Tom Lee's Panel Tip 2: Sheffield United To Win At Cardiff - 11/10 With William Hill

Wycombe Vs Bolton, Friday, December 20

Flirting with negative equity for the first time all season, a welcome winner last Saturday means this column heads into the final matchday prior to Christmas with a re-stocked profit and loss figure of +3.94. 

With any luck, if a couple of gems selected from the EFL can sparkle, that tally can be almost doubled before Santa arrives. 

The first of those is Wycombe, as the League One leaders look to capitalise on their unusual Friday night slot at home to injury and suspension plagued Bolton.

A couple of wrinkles to deal with admittedly, in that Wycombe stuttered twice in the first week of December, dropping two points away to a decent footballing side in the shape of Exeter, before playing out a tame 1-1 at home to a limited Reading side a fortnight ago.

However, Matt Bloomfield's men were right back on it last Saturday with a 4-1 win at Shrewsbury, in the process leaving their opponents rock bottom of the third tier. 

Then there's Bolton's away form to throw into the mix, a team so consistently inconsistent. 

Bolton sit eighth in the table and have already amassed a handy 30 points, but a measure of their up and down form came in September when they lost 4-0 at home to Huddersfield, only to destroy Reading 5-2, seven days later. 

Bolton fans will rightly chime in that some of their away form has been decent, most notably their victories at Leyton Orient, Crawley, Northampton and Stevenage. 

But, and it's a big but, what do all those sides share in common? Yep, they are all bottom feeders who, apart from Stevenage in 12th, occupy the bottom seven places in League One. 

Games away against the divisional heavyweights haven't been kind this season either. Birmingham beat them 2-0, Stockport were less forgiving, pumping Ian Evatt's men 5-0.

Then there are Bolton's absentees. Ricardo Santos and George Johnston are missing due to suspension, while Jordi Osei-Tutu was forced off with a knock last weekend during a home loss to Wigan. 

The Trotters are trying to rush back Eoin Toal after hamstring issues, while ex-Wycombe man Chris Forino is another due to return from the treatment room, but there are no guarantees either will be ready for this contest. 

With all those question marks, I'll be surprised if Wycombe's effective high press doesn't see them put Bolton away with a bit to spare.

The potential prize for the hosts is to head into Saturday temporarily five points clear, with Wrexham the first to try and respond. Birmingham don't play until Monday night. 

For those reasons, Wycombe are a confident bet at 23/20 on football betting sites. 

Tom Lee's Panel Tip 1: Wycombe To Beat Bolton - 23/20 With William Hill

Cardiff Vs Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm

Leg two of this weekend's wager is another divisional high-flyer, as Championship leaders Sheffield United travel to Cardiff City.

The Blades' 2-0 home win against struggling Plymouth last time out saw the travelling support salute their former goalkeeper, Michael Cooper, with chants of "He's going to play for England" at full-time, after a fixture which marked a 13th clean sheet from 19 appearances since Cooper swapped South Devon for South Yorkshire.

Overall, United's 11 goals conceded is bettered only by Burnley's eight, but the Blades' superior attacking firepower means they're great value for their table-topping status.

A total of 19 points from an available 33 have been achieved on their travels, but narrow the metrics to when playing sides in the bottom half of the Championship, and it becomes an even more impressive 11 from 15.

Do hosts Cardiff have it in them to blunt the Blades?

It's been slim pickings for the Bluebirds lately, which has seen them pick up just three points from an available 21 since beating Norwich 2-1 in early November. 

It's a spell which has seen them score only six time in seven matches.

If you remove their 5-0 home win against 10-man Plymouth back in October, they would be the lowest goal scorers in the entire Championship by some margin.

With that in mind, Sheffield United are the second leg of this weekend's double at 11/10 on betting apps.

Tom Lee's Panel Tip 2: Sheffield United To Win At Cardiff - 11/10 With William Hill

Tom's double on Wycombe and Sheffield United to win pays out at just over 7/2 with William Hill