EFL Tips | Gab Sutton

Sunderland’s promotion push has been built on impeccable home form, with Regis Le Bris’ side taking 13 points from the 15 available so far.

The Black Cats boast plenty of quality in midfield, where Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg are fast becoming among the country's hottest prospects.

Similarly, newly promoted Oxford have relied on their home form to defy their doubters in midtable, with Des Buckingham’s side having accrued two points from a possible 15 on the road.

The Yellows have had a tough run of fixtures of late, but they’re winless in six.

Birmingham produced another dominant display in midweek, with Chris Davies’ side enjoying a 2-0 victory over Bolton to go four points clear at the top of League One.

The likes of Christoph Klarer, an assured, Rolls-Royce of a centre-back with a delightful ping, and Paik Seung-Ho, a creative, intelligent midfielder with great agility and balance, look among the best players Blues have had in their recent history.

With nine wins in their first 11, and just the one defeat, the B9 outfit look a class above anyone else in this league and represent an ominous assignment for Mansfield.

Luckily for the Stags, they’ve already assembled a healthy tally of 23 points, of which 19 have come against bottom half opposition – making Saturday's lunchtime clash something of a free hit.

Will Grigg has been among the most reliable goalscorers in English football over the last decade.

The Northern Irishman has scored 19 or more in the league in five of his 12 full seasons as a professional and is on course to hit the big numbers for a sixth time, after starting with seven goals already.

Under Paul Cook’s guidance, Grigg looks fit as a fiddle and his all-round game, movement and work ethic is such that he helps rather than hinders his team’s all-round chance creation prospects.

As such, the prolific marksman looks likely to add to his tally at Morecambe, who have just one win to their name all season and were well-beaten at Wimbledon in midweek, suffering a 3-0 defeat.

Peterborough are arguably the most exciting attacking side in League One, scoring 25 goals in their first 13 games, despite the loss of star forward Ephron Mason-Clark in the summer.

Tuesday’s 5-1 thumping of Blackpool highlighted just what Darren Ferguson’s side can do at their best, although consistency has eluded the youthful outfit, who haven’t recorded back-to-back league wins since August.

Hosts Bolton, by contrast, are in the upper echelons of the age spectrum, which can lead them to struggle in games that don’t allow them much of the ball – like Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Birmingham.

Wanderers do have quality, though, in John McAtee, who came out of midweek with some credit with his effort from the bench.

Five of Wanderers’ last seven games have seen both teams score, likewise 10 of Peterborough’s 13 in the league.

It would be understandable for Cardiff to be as big as 15/4 for victory at West Brom if they were still led by Erol Bulut, but the Welsh outfit are a completely different proposition under Omar Riza.

The Bluebirds have taken 10 points from a possible 12 since Riza took the reins, and while all three of the victories were at home, to fellow strugglers, they also produced a positive display in a 1-1 draw at Severnside rivals Bristol City.

City have gone from looking flat and static, to one of the brighter, more inventive sides in the league on recent form.

While West Brom are understandably favourites, Carlos Corberán’s side are winless in four, after conceding a late equaliser at Oxford last week.