Gabriel Sutton's EFL Tips

Gillingham are hoping to bounce back from their first real setback of the season, in back-to-back defeats, but Mark Bonner’s side still boast a healthy tally of 19 points.

Ethan Coleman, Jacob Wakeling and Jonny Williams could come into the XI as Bonner looks to shake things up, following last week’s 2-0 loss at Crewe.

Perhaps the most favourable fixture the Gills could have to put that mini blip behind them is Accrington Stanley at home, with John Doolan’s side having accrued just one win all season.

The Reds can certainly create chances, with Shaun Whalley being a bright spark of their season so far, but they’ve shipped 19 goals – so if Gillingham can keep a seventh clean sheet of their league campaign, they should find a goal at the other end to secure all three points.

This is not quite a ‘banker’ as such, with the visitors priced as big as 2/1, but we think Grimsby are a far better side.

The Mariners occupy a top half berth having accrued 15 points from their first 10 games but have been arguably the better team in six of those encounters, only really outplayed by Notts County and Doncaster.

Town look a notch off the very best teams in the league, but they’re making clear strides this season under David Artell, with the likes of Evan Khouri and George McEachran bringing the quality in midfield.

While Grimsby have a joined-up recruitment process, hosts Salford could suffer from not having that, and look set for a bottom half finish.

Jonson Clarke-Harris hit 31 goals for Peterborough, when they won promotion from League One in 2020-21, and fired in 26 for them in 2022-23’s Play-Off campaign, as well as getting double figures for them in the intervening Championship outing.

Clarke-Harris is fondly remembered at London Road, but now he’s out to do damage to the Posh as a visiting player, after signing for Rotherham in the summer.

The experienced forward is starting to forge an understanding with Mallik Wilks and Sam Nombe in the front three for the Millers, who look to be putting a tough start to the season behind them with just one defeat in their last seven league games – to League One Galacticos, Birmingham.

Nombe gets through a lot of graft on the left of the attack, which should free up Clarke-Harris to poach – and add to his three goals already this season.

All three of Scott Lindsey’s opening games for MK Dons have seen both teams score, with the Buckinghamshire outfit accruing five points from those encounters.

MK showed what they can do going forward when they thrashed Harrogate 5-1, and Lindsey’s former promotion-winning Crawley colleague, Liam Kelly, ran the show in midfield.

The diminutive playmaker should call the shots again, under a manager he thinks the world of, but Port Vale have the firepower to threaten themselves.

Lorent Tolaj has hit the ground running after arriving with rave reviews from National League Aldershot, while target man Jayden Stockley poses a real threat from crosses for Darren Moore’s side.

Shrewsbury couldn’t quite hold out for all three points at Bolton last weekend, after enjoying a two-goal first half lead, but they can take lots of confidence from an encouraging performance at a prospective promotion contender.

The Shrews don’t have too much going for them, in their bid to beat the drop, but the one thing they do have is a manager in Paul Hurst who will be pragmatic with his resources and do what’s required to give his side the best chance of getting results.

Whereas Crawley are looking to play out from the back at this level with a squad that wouldn’t necessarily leap off the page in the National League.

As such, new head coach Rob Elliot has his work cut out, and Shrewsbury might be able to find gains by pressing them aggressively from the front through George Lloyd’s relentless energy.