Saturday’s Football acca tips
12:30pm – Norwich City v Hull City
Over 2.5 goals
12:30pm – Burnley v Preston North End
Under 2.5 goals
12:30pm – Huddersfield Town v Barnsley
Josh Koroma to score
12:30pm – Fleetwood Town v Bromley
Both teams to score – yes
12:30pm – Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers
Under 2.5 goals
- An acca with these bets pays at approximately 26/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Norwich v Hull
EFL Championship match at Carrow Road, Norwich
TV: Sky Sports+
Over 2.5 goals
Norwich and Hull hired new managers in the summer, Johannes Hoff Thorup and Tim Walter, respectively, who had never coached in this country before. Naturally, the players took some time to adjust to new methods and tactics, causing some early-season teething problems. However, Norwich have lost once in five, including three victories, and appear to be progressing nicely. As for Hull, they have three wins in succession under their belts, meaning they travel to Carrow Road in high spirits.
With Norwich, the goals are now starting to come for The Canaries. Thorup was appointed and promised attacking football, and now it is beginning to be rewarded in the form of goals. They’ve averaged 2.67 goals scored over their previous three Championship fixtures, whilst specifically in home matches, they’re averaging 2.40. The issue is they’ve also yet to keep a clean sheet at Carrow Road and have produced only one shutout in league and cup all season.
There are plenty of similarities when it comes to comparing Hull and Norwich. Walter is an attack-minded coach, so he’ll instruct his players to play a high-risk passing strategy, which can easily see the opponents take advantage. That has often been the case this season, given that the Tigers have kept just one clean sheet all season. Despite winning three in succession, none were ‘to nil’, but they’ll be encouraged by averaging 3.33 goals in this mini-period.
Burnley v Preston North End
EFL Championship match at Turf Moor, Burnley
TV: Sky Sports Football
Under 2.5 goals
Local derby matches can often be very tight and cagey. They are usually played in very tense atmospheres that know the importance of avoiding defeat. In this match, Burnley will play to win, whereas Preston would be more than content with a point.
A tactical battle is likely to play out here, with the home side enjoying most of the possession against an outfit aiming to be hard to beat. It will be in Preston’s best interests to do this, given they played a day later than Burnley did in midweek, meaning tiredness and a lack of freshness is more of a concern for them.
Even if the rivalry element is put on one side, a case can be made for this to be a close encounter. Burnley started the campaign with back-to-back victories, both being high-scoring triumphs against Burnley (4-1) and Cardiff (5-0), respectively, but since then, it has been mainly that not one team has been convinced in terms of score.
Their three wins since then were all by a one-goal margin, and the same for their only league loss. Plus, a couple of draws have been thrown in as well. Preston are winless away all season, and they do not need to turn this into an end-to-end match if they can help it. They will try to slow down the game at the right moments and aim to frustrate Burnley as much as possible.
Huddersfield Town v Burnley
EFL League One match at The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield
TV: Sky Sports+
Josh Koroma to score
West Yorkshire meets South Yorkshire this weekend when Huddersfield welcomes Barnsley to The John Smith’s Stadium. After a bright start, it has been a concerning run of form for Saturday’s home side on four straight defeats. Therefore, they will have big motivation given they are facing not just a county rival but also to get back on track.
They expect them to contest promotion and must prove why that should happen. Barnsley are just outside the play-off places on goal difference and only lost once in their previous eight league fixtures, which is a reason for their solid campaign so far.
Whether Huddersfield are in poor form or not, one would argue they’ve had a few tough opponents in that run. That won’t reassure manager Michael Duff, his players, or the fans, and they need to perform on Saturday. It has been back-to-back home defeats, but they had won all three home assignments this season before that, so they’re more than capable of turning up and getting the job done.
For that to happen, striker Josh Koroma will likely have to play a commanding role again. He tops the Town squad charts for number of attempts, shots on target and, most importantly, goals scored. The 25-year-old was rested to the bench at Birmingham on Tuesday, possibly with half an eye on this Barnsley game.
He is, therefore, fresher than most, and he’ll be up against a Barnsley defence with only one clean sheet to its name in League One this season. Furthermore, he is a few games without a goal and no doubt he’ll be keen to get him and his team out of their slump.
Fleetwood Town v Bromley
EFL League Two match at Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood
TV: Sky Sports+
Both teams to score – yes
Tuesday night was a strange night across the EFL, as most matchdays tend to be, but one of the standout results, without a doubt, was Fleetwood going to Walsall and earning a thumping 6-2 victory. Charlie Adam’s side were 1-0 and then 2-1 behind within the first-half before a second-half masterclass earned them the spoils in convincing fashion.
They will be on a high right now, as that extended their unbeaten league run to four. However, they can ill afford to take newly-promoted Bromley lightly. The Ravens may be nine without a win in 90 minutes, but they’ve only failed to score in one of those, albeit not keeping a clean sheet. Still, there have been encouraging signs for manager Andy Woodman to believe things will eventually improve.
For all that Saturday’s home team are certainly in good form, it is not only Bromley who have found keeping the opposition out such an easy task. Town lack clean sheets, which will give the struggling away team some hope. Fleetwood have failed to keep a clean sheet in nine of their 12 fixtures in league and cup this season. Given Bromley have only once not scored themselves, then a significant point in the direction of both teams scoring appears to be a prominent call.
Fleetwood are in the top four for average Expected Goals per game across League Two, which roughly coincides with their league standing of sixth place. Bromley may be in the bottom six, yet in the same category, they’re more mid-table, which surpasses their actual 19th-place league table placing. Woodman’s men are the joint second-highest scorers in the bottom half, so they have been known to offer a goal threat despite a poor run of results.
Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers
EFL League Two match at Blundell Park, Grimsby
TV: Sky Sports+
Under 2.5 goals
Grimsby and Doncaster have a little bit of a rivalry, so a committed game from both is expected on Saturday, but not necessarily in terms of goals. Early kick-offs often become relatively unentertaining, given that everyone is accustomed to the traditional 3pm. start.
However, a run of three straight wins has propelled Grimsby up the standings to within touching distance of a play-off place, so they should be confident this weekend. Doncaster still sit above The Mariners and inside the play-off positions, plus their midweek 1-0 win over Barrow ended their four-game winless period, so they can start to look forwards once again.
Therefore, when two teams are in a similar position, high in the table, and come together, there should be plenty of respect on show. While each team plays to win in its own way, there has to be a need to consider the opponent. Such tactical appreciations may lead to both cancelling one another out.
Doncaster may see most of the ball, given they have the fourth-highest average possession in League Two, but they’ll be aware that they’ve won only one away league encounter this season. Grimsby have mostly been vital at home, yet a 2-1 setback to Barrow recently proves they are no sure thing despite playing at Blundell Park.
The easy assumption here would be to expect goals, but it almost appears too easy to suggest. Grimsby have still conceded more than they’ve scored despite being eighth in the table, while Doncaster have a goal difference of 0. This says neither team are necessarily the most convincing, plus a lot would have to be taken on trust in terms of expecting a positive result either way and ultimately taking their chances.
Saturday EFL Betting Tips
12:30pm – Norwich City v Hull City
Over 2.5 goals
12:30pm – Burnley v Preston North End
Under 2.5 goals
12:30pm – Huddersfield Town v Barnsley
Josh Koroma to score
12:30pm – Fleetwood Town v Bromley
Both teams to score – yes
12:30pm – Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers
Under 2.5 goals
- An acca with these bets pays at approximately 26/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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