The acca was something of a disaster last week, with three in-form teams – Watford, Rotherham and Port Vale – all deciding to have the day off, on home soil, against inferior opposition.
Perhaps the old cliché is true: form is temporary, class is permanent.
Reflecting back on our most recent football accumulator tips, it is noticeable that the odds we are backing have crept up of late; we were a shade under 20/1 last time, for instance.
Perhaps we’re starting to get a little greedy, so let’s rein it in with this week’s acca tips and instead increase our chances of winning:
- Manchester City vs Arsenal: Over 2.5 Goals (4/11)
- Wolves vs Fulham: Wolves to Win (17/20)
- Bolton vs Norwich: Under 2.5 Goals (9/10)
- Sheffield United vs Hull City: Sheffield United to Win (5/6)
- Blackburn vs Barnet: Blackburn to Win (4/11)
- Acca Odds: 10.98/1
Manchester City vs Arsenal: Over 2.5 Goals
Fixtures between these two scream goals, and their respective recent form suggests we don’t need to expect anything different on Sunday.
You probably know all about Manchester City already: they’ve bashed home 21 goals in just five Premier League outings at the Etihad Stadium (or whatever it’s called these days), and they show no signs of slowing down on that front. Amazingly, they have cleared the Over 2.5 Goals line by themselves in six of their last seven matches!
Arsenal have actually gone behind in each of their last three matches, but have come back to win all of them. That says a lot about their character, and also their propensity for scoring/conceding goals. They’ve netted two or more goals in five of their last league dates, and we have a sneaky feeling Arsene Wenger may throw Olivier Giroud into the mix against a physically fragile City backline.
Wolves vs Fulham: Wolves to Win
This fixture actually takes place on Friday evening, so we are endangering the acca before Jeff Stelling has even cleared his throat, but Wolves are turning into reliable win-merchants in the Championship this term.
Their home form is impressive (W5 D1 L1), and incredibly they have scored the first goal in 73% of their league matches this term; a stat that really lends itself to winning games of football.
Fulham have only won two of their last eight, and the free-scoring spirit of last season is a thing of the past. For context, their goals scored tally of 18 is the seventeenth lowest in the Championship.
Bolton vs Norwich: Under 2.5 Goals
Bolton’s goal tally of 11 in 15 perfectly sums up why they are propping up the Championship league table.
They are not the worst side defensively, although the fact they have won just 1/7 on home soil this term speaks volumes.
Since being beaten 0-4 at Millwall the Canaries have opted for a defensive approach: so it’s no surprise that just two of their last ten matches have witnessed three or more goals.
Sheffield United vs Hull City: Sheffield United to Win
Chris Wilder is doing an exceptional job at Sheffield United, and their excellent start to the campaign is not down to luck or anything of the sort
Well drilled in their 3-5-2 shape, Bramall Lane is one of the narrowest pitches in the division, and it’s no wonder opponents have found the Blades a tough nut to crack at home. They’ve won six of seven in front of their own supporters.
You have to applaud the attacking instincts of Hull City, but in reality it isn’t quite working out for them. They’ve conceded at least once in 13/15 this term and shipped three goals in each of their last two outings.
Blackburn vs Barnet: Blackburn to Win
Barnet are in dire straits in League 2 at the moment, so it seems unlikely they will cause many problems at Blackburn in this FA Cup First Round tie.
The Lancashire outfit have lost just two of their last thirteen matches, winning seven of those, and they have certainly looked solid enough at Ewood Park (W4 D2 L2).
Barnet have really struggled with injuries of late, and after claiming 10 points from a possible 18 in League 2 at the start of the campaign they have since taken just four from the available 30.