Thatsagoal.com Exeter vs Swindon predictions and betting tips for this League Two game on Saturday 17th August. Can Exeter make it three wins in a row?
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It’s Matt Taylor’s second season in charge at St.James’ Park, and it has started positively. Admittedly, performances haven’t been vintage, but the Grecians have collected six points, and they are yet to concede a goal. They needed a moment of magic from Nicky Law last weekend to unlock the Stevenage defence, whilst Ryan Bowman’s fortuitous strike in the 88th minute gave them an opening day victory over Macclesfield. You can’t knock a side who are winning, and keeping clean sheets, but this is probably going to be their first real test. Taylor gave minutes to a number of fringe players in midweek, and it didn’t work with the Devon side losing 4-1 to Coventry. They have been dealt a blow this week with the news that Tom Parkes has been banned for three games for violent conduct. The incident wasn’t seen by the officials, but the FA have handed out retrospective punishment, and he won’t feature in this game.
Read More: See all of this weekend’s League Two betting tips and predictions
Swindon have also made a terrific start to the season, and Richie Wellen’s men have taken maximum points from their opening couple of games. They picked up a decent away win at Scunny on the opening day of the campaign, and they gave the home fans something to cheer with a 3-2 victory against Carlisle seven days ago. Admittedly that score-line flattered the Cumbrians, and Swindon were completely dominant throughout. Things are looking good for the Wiltshire side, with Jordan Lyden catching the eye in the centre of the park alongside Michael Doughty. In midweek, Wellens’ side lost 3-0 in the EFL Cup with the gaffer admitting that he should have rested a few more players and kept them fresh for this game. Jerry Yates’ sending off was a blow, with the Robins having no natural replacement for the Rotherham loanee. They could opt to bring in reinforcements this week.
It’s difficult to pick these two sides apart. Both sides have made perfect starts, but there are questions marks ahead of this game. The absence of Yates is going to affect Swindon’s attacking output, whilst Exeter haven’t quite produced a high enough level of performance to merit backing in this tough-looking game. As a result, going down the middle makes sense, with the draw looking like the terrific bet at 21/10.
Tom Parkes’ absence is a problem for Exeter, and that could make them suceptible at the back. At the other end of the field, Swindon conceded twice despite being completely dominant against Carlisle, and therefore both sides could easily get on the scoresheet here. Both Teams to Score is available at 10/11 with Betfred
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