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

Tom Lee's Panel Tips For Saturday, December 7:

• Tom Lee's Panel Tip 1: Wycombe To Beat Reading - 4/6 With Ladbrokes
• Tom Lee's Panel Tip 2: MK Dons To Beat Barrow - 7/4 With Ladbrokes

Wycombe Vs Reading, Saturday, 3pm

Christmas party season is upon us and what could be more mood-enhancing than a winning EFL double under the mistletoe?

In fairness, no-one who followed this column and backed Wycombe to triumph at Exeter in midweek will have been saying 'ho ho ho' after the Chairboys were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw on their travels.

But those memories will be banished if, back on home soil, the League One leaders can send Reading home empty-handed on Saturday afternoon.

Ladbrokes are a standout price of 4/6 about that eventuality, which should be considered as the first leg of this weekend's bet. 

Matt Bloomfield's men continue to hit the high notes in front of goal, notching their 37th and 38th strikes of the campaign in the south west. 

That's comfortably more than their closest pursuers around a third of the way through the season.

This encounter represents first against sixth, but having seen Reading up close quite recently when they collapsed 4-1 at Stockport, I'm far from convinced they're especially good value for their present league standing.

The sight of ex-Manchester United man Charlie Savage running around fouling people in midfield, just like another member of his family used to, is perhaps the most memorable aspect of Reading's play, one which sees them into the third round of the FA Cup after making heavy weather of dispatching non-league Harborough Town last Sunday.

Their prize for that is a home tie against Championship high flyers Burnley in round three, but in the meantime they've got work to do.  

Granted, they've secured a reasonable nine points in away games this season, but since taking an excellent point at Birmingham on the opening weekend, a clear and obvious trend has emerged, namely their inability to handle the divisional big guns on the road.

Since August 24 they've come up against three of the current top seven on their travels, taking heavy beatings each time.

Those results read: Wrexham 3-0 Reading, Bolton 5-2 Reading, Stockport 4-1 Reading. That's right, 12 conceded and against sides who can't currently keep up with Wycombe.

For that reason, 4/6 with football betting sites has to be snapped up.

Tom Lee's Panel Tip 1: Wycombe To Beat Reading - 4/6 With Ladbrokes

Barrow Vs MK Dons, Saturday, 3pm 

Leg two is arguably riskier, but stick with me as I detail why I believe League Two heavy hitters MK Dons are a fantastic wager at 7/4 for their assignment in Cumbria, heading a long way north to take on shot-shy Barrow.

Again, like Reading, I've got first-hand knowledge of Barrow, having attended their home defeat at the hands of neighbours Morecambe back in early October.

"We struggle in front of goal," and "You'll see, no side in the top half will score as few as us come the end of the season," were just two of the comments that were uttered when I asked long-standing season-ticket holders about their prospects for the campaign, during that scrappy game at Holker Street.

Those are remarks which have rung emphatically true. Seven games later their team have dropped like a stone from from a lofty top-six spot to 13th, taking just four points from an available 21 in a spell where their players have mustered a mere five goals.

Barrow have been torpedoed out of the FA Cup, as Doncaster mastered them on their own pitch in an attritional 1-0 defeat.

Festive cheer is in short supply, and there might not be too much more forthcoming when MK Dons turn up fresh from a 240-mile trek north.

Scott Lindsey's side have the bit firmly between their teeth, and worryingly for the hosts they seem to specialise in away games in the north of England.

MK Dons managed a solitary point in their first four away missions of the 2024/25 campaign, but to say something has clicked since then would be an understatement. 

Six consecutive league victories in the league have seen them surge up to third in the table, but what of those northern road trips?

Since October 1 they've played up there three times, their only league away games in that time frame, and on all occasions you'd imagine the bus ride home was a jolly one.

Those results read: Harrogate 1-5 MK Dons, Morecambe 1-3 MK Dons, Grimsby 1-3 MK Dons. So maximum points, 11 goals, what's not to like?

They go into this game with a feelgood factor after trouncing Chesterfield 3-0 on Tuesday evening and let's not forget victory here comes with a huge incentive as the top two in League Two, Port Vale and Walsall, meet in an early kick-off. 

Win and close the gap? The case is clear for 7/4 MK Dons with betting apps.

 Tom Lee's Panel Tip 2: MK Dons To Beat Barrow - 7/4 With Ladbrokes

Tom's double on Wycombe and Mk Dons to win pays out at just over 7/2 with Ladbrokes