Marathonbet preview the weekend’s action

It was a case of close but no cigar in Forest Green Rovers’ attempts to equal English football’s longest ever winning run (14).

The tough trip to Woking proved a test too far for Adrian Pennock’s side when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat – their first of the National League season – at the Kingfield Stadium on Tuesday night. But Rovers showed great strength of character to notch nine straight wins on the bounce and we’re backing them to get back on the promotion trail on Saturday against Macclesfield.

As for The Silkmen, they lost away to Cheltenham in midweek but weren’t completely disgraced in the 2-0 defeat. However they appear reliant on six-goal striker Kristian Dennis to stick the ball in the net and when he’s not firing, the team doesn’t seem to either. The defeat to Cheltenham was Macclesfield’s second on the bounce without a goal.

Forest Green on the other hand have an abundance of goals to their name thus far and seem to be sharing the load across the pitch. Aaron O’Connor leads with six but Guthrie, Jennings and Marsh-Brown all have three each and Jon Parkin has two, amongst other sole goal scorers.

As of Friday morning FGR can be backed at an industry best-price 23/20 at Marathonbet to leave Macclesfield with all three points and sustain their lead at the top of the National League. For more value, Rovers have won 60% of their National League fixtures by a single goal and can be backed to win 2-1 at 77/10.

Further big prices can be had in National League North, where Alfreton are picking up pace after a slow start to the new campaign. They’ve won four on the bounce and travel to Stockport tomorrow – a side that started well but has now gone three games without a win – and will be keen to propel themselves into the play-off places.

We expect it will be a tight game with minimal chances, so the likes of Ryan Wilson might be called upon to repeat his 30-yard strike against Worcester in mid-week while Jordan Robertson, who has scored three goals in three games, should also prove a threat.

Stockport meanwhile struggled creatively in their defeat to Chorley last time out so draw first half and Alfreton to win at full-time is the selection at 71/10. Alfeton to win outright at 47/20 is also a pick worth considering. If you fancy Alfreton to really kick on from here, you can back them at 25/1 with Marathonbet to win National League North ahead of 7/4 favourites Solihull Moors.

 And finally in National League South, Basingstoke host fellow relegation contenders Wealdstone at The Camrose in an early-season bottom-of-the-table scrap. The latter look far too short in the betting at 6/4 and can’t help but haemorrhage goals right now, which is form far from their performances that shot them into the play-offs last season.

Wealdstone have also been struggling but can take confidence in the fact they’ve taken 5 points from the last three games. The Stones beat Basingstoke 4-2 the last time the sides met at The Camrose in March and we expect a repeat performance this time out. Back Wealdstone to win at a value 183/100 or for a bigger price, Wealdstone to win 3-1 at 19/1 with Marathonbet.

Click here for hundreds more markets and industry-leading prices across the National League, National League North and National League south at Marathonbet.

Happy punting.