Football betting analyst Mark O’Haire returns to share a couple of his favourite fancies with a focus on the Championship and Allsvenskan this weekend.
We correctly backed Bristol City to give crisis club Sheffield Wednesday a tough time last weekend and the Robins duly obliged with an eye-catching 3-0 success at Hillsborough. And with the Owls still suffering at the bottom end of the Championship, I’m happy to oppose the strugglers once more as they face a devilishly difficult trip to Portsmouth on Saturday.
The Wednesday squad has been decimated by summer departures and transfer restrictions due to their financial issues. The ongoing issues saw highly-rated head coach Danny Rohl walked away from the club a fortnight before the season start with his former assistant Henrik Pedersen taking charge of first-team affairs with only 12 available senior players.
Unsurprisingly, the Owls have found the first six weeks of the season tough, sliding to second-bottom in the second-tier standings (W0-D1-L4), shipping multiple goals in all five fixtures and allowing a league-high 18 Big Chances, as well as 7.00 shots on-target per-game. It’s difficult to foresee an immediate change in fortunes for Pedersen’s posse.
Portsmouth picked up a creditable point at bitter rivals Southampton last weekend to sit just outside of the top-six (W2-D2-L1). John Mousinho’s men largely controlled proceedings at St Mary’s and have certainly impressed from a defensive perspective this term, allowing only seven Big Chances across their first five outings, recording three clean sheets.
Back at Fratton Park, Pompey command plenty of respect. The south coast club have posted W11-D3-L3 here in Championship action since November, whilst Leeds, Burnley and Sheffield United all failed to score in away days at Portsmouth in 2024/25. Mousinho’s men tabled nine shutouts in their 23 home dates last term, and a repeat appeals.
However, I’m happy to take the Portsmouth win and Under 4.5 Goals price at 1.91, knowing we have the 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 2-1 and 3-1 correct scores onside. Only one of Pompey’s home encounters since the start of last season has featured 5+ goals and all 10 combined Portsmouth and Wednesday contests this season have seen Under 4.5 Goals land.
Mjallby are enjoying a remarkable season in Sweden. Competing in the third-tier as recently as 2018 and without a major trophy to their name, Maifare are currently top of the Allsvenskan table and sitting 10 points clear of the chasing pack. Anders Torstensson’s team have suffered a solitary reverse in 23 (W17-D5-L1) with the title race firmly in their control.
The league leaders are understandably short-priced 1.40 favourites at home to relegation-threatened Osters this weekend having returned eight wins from 11 as hosts, as well as 10 triumphs from 11 when facing bottom-half opposition. But there is still value in backing the 2.40 on Mjallby to win and Both Teams To Score – No.
Six of the aforementioned 10 victories against bottom-half dwellers have seen Mjallby record a clean sheet with the home side also shipping only six goals and shutting out five of their 11 guests to the Strandvallen this season. Recent form also stands-out – Torstensson’s troops are W8-D1-L0 in their last nine, leaking four goals and silencing five sides.
That defensive solidity contrasts starkly with Osters’ issues in attack. The third-bottom visitors have been beaten without scoring in eight of 11 encounters with top-half sides, failing to score in nine. On their travels, they’ve scored once in six trips to teams in ninth or above, while they’ve lost without scoring in four of five against the current top-three.
Even last week’s success underlined Osters’ fragility: trailing 3-2 at home to bottom side Vasteras, Osters needed stoppage-time to avoid humiliation. That result only papered over deeper cracks and with the visitors 45 points below Mjallby and boasting the second-worst performance data in the division, the 2.40 on a home win to nil holds plenty of appeal.
+3.49 units – Mark O’Haire’s 2025/26 Insights P&L (+44% ROI)
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