Football Bet of the Day: Whites to march Generals out of the Ray Mac again

The international break means fixures are few and far between at the beginning of this week, but one domestic league unaffected by players heading to South America - other continents are available - is the National League South, and I've picked out a fixture from there to be Tuesday's football bet of the day.

Read below for my football bet of the day, which offers odds of 18/5, and comes from a place I know very well...

Salisbury FC vs Chesham United Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Salisbury FC vs Chesham United page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

The glory days of Nick Holmes in charge and Matt Tubbs up top, and Edgar Davids being sent off on his final professional appearance for Barnet (I was there!), are a bygone era at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, with phoenix club Salisbury FC rising from the ashes of its previous incarnation, Salisbury City. The Whites had reached the dizzying heights of the Conference Premier in 2013, sparking schoolboy dreams of the side soon appearing in the latest FIFA video game.

Alas, along came administration, the club was wound up, and the newly-founded Salisbury FC was sent tumbling down the divisions.

Former journeyman striker and The Football League Show icon Steve Claridge sought to take the Whites back up the divisions, and he did so to a point before ex-Salisbury City utility player Brian Dutton took over the reins in 2022. Dutton led the club to success in the 2023/24 Southern League Premier South play-offs, beating AFC Totton on penalties to earn promotion to the National League South.

Chesham United joined them in Step 2 of the National League System from the Southern League Premier South after finishing nine points ahead of runners-up AFC Totton - and 11 ahead of Salisbury - to claim the title.

The Generals racked up 90 points across their 42 games, 53 of which were collected at home - four more than the club with the next-best home record, Salisbury (49). The Whites lost 2-1 at The Meadow on April 6, five days after the hosts had secured the title.

However, events were very different at the Ray Mac a month prior (March 9) as Salisbury won 3-1 in Wiltshire.

The sides now meet as a pair of National League South outfits, and both have made encouraging starts to the 2024/25 season.

Football Odds

After six games played, Salisbury sit 12th, bang in mid-table on eight points. Both of their defeats were suffered on their travels, while they are still unbeaten at home, beating Slough 1-0 and Boreham Wood 2-1 either side of a 1-1 draw with Truro.

Meanwhile, Chesham are 15th, just a point below the Whites heading into Tuesday's fixture, after winning two and drawing one of their first six matches. The Generals began the campaign poorly, following up a 1-1 draw at Eastbourne Boro with 2-1 home defeats to Boreham Wood and Weston-super-Mare.

However, Chesham have won two of their last three games, beating St. Albans 2-1 and Welling 3-1, both away from home.

So, a side unbeaten at home now takes on one yet to be defeated on the road - will Salisbury and Chesham share the spoils on Tuesday and maintain their respective invincible statuses? I don't think so.

Bias aside, I think Salisbury's home advantage will hand the Whites the edge against the Generals. Tuesday's hosts won this fixture by two goals last season and were only defeated by a 74th-minute goal in the reverse contest, albeit Chesham had already claimed the title by that point.

Salisbury lost 1-0 at Tonbridge on Saturday, the second time in three matches they had lost by a goal to nil, but both of those defeats came away from home. At the Ray Mac, they have taken seven points from the nine available to them, while both teams have scored in two of those three Wiltshire contests.

Meanwhile, BTTS - Yes has landed in all three of Chesham's away games, as well as in their last visit to Tuesday's venue. I can see Salisbury and Chesham both getting on the scoresheet in this week's head-to-head, but I'm backing the Whites to return to winning ways.

Offers

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