Leaders Walsall are tipped to lose this Tuesday despite being strong favourites in the League Two betting to secure promotion next May.

Struggling Shrewsbury are also fancied to subvert their odds in the football betting. Why? Because it’s the fourth tier, that’s why: a league where only six points separates Gillingham in sixth and Oldham in 16th.

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Anything can happen in League Two, and typically anything does. Let’s see what an almost full schedule of fixtures midweek brings us.

League 2 Tips Tuesday

Barnet v Bristol Rovers

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 14th vs 21st

Barnet preview: A promising play-off push for the Bees has fallen away of late due to their habit of drawing. Each of their last five outings has finished honours even.

They have taken the lead in three of those contests and another early strike should not be ruled out here. Barnet have converted inside 25 minutes in seven of their last 12.

Bristol Rovers preview: The Pirates’ season fell off a cliff at the start of October and they haven’t recovered since. Eight straight losses has placed their league status in peril with a lack of goals the chief concern.

Score prediction: 1-0.

Barrow v Tranmere Rovers

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 18th vs 15th

Barrow preview: Just two home wins in nine for the Cumbrians but at least defeats are improving to draws. The Cumbrian side have shared the points in five of their last eight.

Tranmere preview: Rovers have accrued a respectable 12 points from 27 on the road and have scored in each of their last seven contests. Charlie Whitaker has played a key role in their recent spike in form, bagging four in four.

Score prediction: 2-2.

Bromley v Crawley Town

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 5th vs 19th

Bromley preview: The Ravens have yet to be beaten at Hayes Lane and have only failed to score on three occasions all season. They have to be strongly fancied against a Crawley side that too often haemorrhages goals.

Crawley preview: Town’s backline has been suspect all season, all told conceding every 54 minutes. They have been breached 2+ times in exactly half of their games, shipping in four last time out at Salford.

Score prediction: 3-0.

Cambridge United v Chesterfield

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 7th vs 10th

Cambridge preview: Three clean sheets in four has been the bedrock for decent form since November. The Us are a tough proposition at the Abbey Stadium and can bolster their play-off credentials with three points on Tuesday.

Chesterfield preview: Only bottom of the table Newport have conceded more first half goals than the Spirites and this has contributed to some high-scoring affairs. Two 3-3 draws in recent weeks illustrates this.

Lee Bonis is their danger man, taking on nine shots in his last three starts.

Score prediction: 3-1.

Fleetwood Town v Salford City

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 13th vs 8th

Fleetwood preview: Fourteen of Fleetwood’s 18 league showings have ended up with both teams scoring, a reflection on their firepower and porous defence. Just one defeat in nine at Highbury makes this a hard ask for Salford.

Salford preview: It’s always a coin-flip as to what you’re going to get from Karl Robinson’s side but one trend worth noting is how their shots on target count plummets on their travels.

Setting up defensively has proven to be counter-productive, with Salford conceding twice in three of their last four away from Moor Lane.

Score prediction: 2-1.

Harrogate Town v Accrington Stanley

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 23rd vs 17th

Harrogate preview: Winless in eight the Sulphurites will once again turn to Jack Muldoon as their best attacking threat. The striker has scored nearly a third of their slender goal-tally.

Accrington preview: The visitor’s shot count may have halved in recent weeks but counter-intuitively results are starting to go their way. They lost this exact fixture last season 2-1 but this is a marginally better Stanley side and a marginally worse Harrogate.

Score prediction: 1-2.

Notts County v Milton Keynes Dons

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 4th vs 3rd

County preview: The Magpies walloped MK Dons 3-0 last season at Meadow Lane but we can expect a cagier affair this time, with both teams eying an automatic promotion spot.

They have made hard work of securing the points since mid-November – with late goals the norm – but County are still in good shape.

MK Dons preview: The Dons boast the best chance conversion rate in League Two and in recent weeks they largely have Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to thank for that. The 33-year-old winger has registered seven goal involvements in his last six games.

Score prediction: 1-1

Shrewsbury Town v Grimsby Town

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 20th vs 12th

Shrewsbury preview: Discipline is an ongoing issue with the Shrews, picking up 46 cautions to this point. That’s 2.5 bookings per 90.
An upturn in form at home has seen them climb out of the bottom two but Michael Appleton’s men are still in danger.

Grimsby preview: The Mariners’ 7-1 thrashing of Cheltenham back in September feels like a lifetime ago, with David Artell’s side now winless in five. Wastefulness in front of goal lies at the heart of their problems because their SOT count remains impressively high.

Score prediction: 1-0.

Swindon Town v Cheltenham Town

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 2nd vs 22nd

Swindon preview: The Robins like to get the job done early, firing a league-high of 19 goals prior to the break. Aaron Drinan has scored the lion’s share of these, the striker nicknamed ‘Dinaldo’ reaching double figures already in the league alone.

That’s 32.3% of his team’s goals. Last Saturday, in the FA Cup, he converted a perfect hat-trick, his third coming from a 30-yard lob.

Cheltenham preview: The visitors have historically fared well in this derby clash but so contrasting are the two team’s fortunes this time out it’s hard to envisage even a close contest.

Three defeats in four suggests the ‘new manager bounce’ enjoyed under Steve Cotterill is over.

Score prediction: 3-0.

League 2 Tips Wednesday

Crewe Alexandra v Newport County

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 11th vs 24th

Crewe preview: The Railwaymen are a streaky side, capable of stringing together a run of wins only to then endure tougher periods. It’s entirely apt that they reside mid-table. To their credit, they have fired three goals in each of their last three home fixtures.

Newport preview: By comparison the Exiles are more consistent, but for all the wrong reasons. Oddly, their three victories this term have all been secured on their travels. That aside though, there are very few positives to put forward for a side languishing at the foot of the table.

Score prediction: 3-1.

Oldham Athletic v Walsall

• Kick-Off: 7.45pm
• Rankings: 16th v 1st

Oldham preview: A pitiful 4.4% chance conversion rate has contributed to just 16 goals this season. Harrogate can better that and they are in the bottom two. What the Latics do have however is a mean rearguard that has been breached only 13 times. It’s the best defensive record in the league.

Walsall preview: The Saddlers may be top of League Two but they have lost on three occasions to mid-table sides at home this season. It could have been worse too, with the promotion-chasers picking up 11 points from losing positions to date.

Factoring in Oldham’s terrific defence a smash-and-grab should not be discounted by the braver bettors among us.

Score prediction: 0-1.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*