Both teams to score tips 9th August – Goalfest expected at Bramall Lane

The BTTS Coupon – 9^th August

The English Football League returns this weekend and we’re hoping the new season will bring plenty of goals.

Fans across the country have been eagerly awaiting the new campaign and we’re backing these six teams to all find the target on Saturday.

Let’s hope for an opening day winner.

Sheffield United V Bristol City

League One rivals Sheffield United and Bristol City experienced relatively similar seasons last term. Both sides struggled in the opening months only to recover with much better form after Christmas. They will each be bidding for promotion in 2014/15.

The Blades really improved after appointing Nigel Clough as manager, finishing the season in seventh, and are the favourites to win League One this season. However, they could be in for a tough challenge against Bristol City. The visitors are second favourites for promotion and will pose a genuine threat at Bramall Lane.

City striker Sam Baldock finished 2013/14 as League One’s top scorer with 24 goals. He and strike partner Aaron Wilbraham will pose a constant threat to the Blades defence.

However, the hosts should have more than enough attacking talent to get on the scoresheet too. The Blades hit three in last year’s corresponding fixture and Clough’s men should find the target again here.

Sheffield United and Bristol City could both be in the hunt for the League One title this season and Saturday’s curtain-raiser has all the makings of a classic.

Rochdale V Peterborough United

Peterborough United were one of our most common BTTS selections throughout 2013/14 and the goals should continue to fly in at both ends during Posh’s games in the coming months.

Posh scored an incredible 72 goals whilst simultaneously letting in 58 at the wrong end. In Britt Assombalonga they boast a striker who amassed 23 league strikes last term and we’re expecting the 21-year-old to enjoy a similarly successful campaign in 2014/15.

Despite playing away from home, Peterborough will be favoured to score. However, newly promoted Rochdale will be equally optimistic heading in to Saturday’s showdown. Having gained promotion from League Two, Dale will be aiming for a big start as they look to consolidate in League One and Keith Hill’s men will look to take advantage of a vulnerable Posh defence.

Rochdale hit 69 goals in League Two and shouldn’t face too much trouble in scoring goals in the division above. However, after conceding 48 goals last season there is a good chance that the increased quality could see them struggle defensively.

Both sides will be equally determined to open their scoring accounts on Saturday and there are plenty of talented attacking players on display here. There should be plenty of chances and hopefully that’ll bring goals at either end.

Bury v Cheltenham Town

League Two side Bury enjoyed a much better second-half to 2013/14 and are one of the favourites to gain promotion this term. However, they may not get everything their own way against Cheltenham Town.

The visitors may have finished 17^th last term but a return of 53 goals is reason to believe they’ll be back amongst the goals in 2014/15. However, they did ship 63. Meanwhile, Bury hit an impressive 59 goals whilst conceding 51. As well as the overall records, their head-to-head results also suggest there will be goals at Gigg Lane as both of last year’s meetings ended in BTTS winners.

Cheltenham’s Byron Harrison finished last term as League Two’s fourth-highest scorer with 13 goals and if he can pick up from where he left off then The Robins should have a great chance of finding the target.

Unfortunately for the visitors, though, they may need more than one goal to claim anything from this game. Huge things are expected of Bury this season and with the likes of Kelvin Etuhu, Daniel Nardiello and Ryan Lowe in attack we can expect to see plenty of action from David Flitcroft’s men.

Fans have been counting down the days until this encounter for weeks. The two teams shouldn’t disappoint.