If you don’t laugh, you cry. The formline of this column now reads missed out by one goal, win, missed out by one goal in the past three weeks!
Our emotions have gone from agony to ecstasy and back again after another action-packed weekend of football accumulator betting tips. Our selections at matches hosted by Reading, Wigan, Plymouth and Yeovil all landed, which meant our hopes rested on the Manchester United vs Chelsea clash at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Any Under 2.5 Goals wager comes with risk attached, but we felt with so much pride at stake neither manager would want to lose the game, and so a dull and conservative affair would ensue.
We were wrong, of course, and United’s 2-1 win meant that our betting slip could be confined to the dustbin.
Never mind, we go again. We’ve been a whisker away from three winning accas in succession!
- Southampton vs Stoke City: Stoke +1.00 Asian Handicap (1/2)
- MK Dons vs Bristol Rovers: Bristol Rovers/Draw Double Chance (4/7)
- Southend United vs Walsall: Southend Draw No Bet (1/2)
- Coventry City vs Lincoln City: Coventry Draw No Bet (4/6)
- Troyes vs PSG: Troyes +2.50 Asian Handicap (1/2)
- Acca Odds: 7.25/1
Southampton vs Stoke City: Stoke +1.00 Asian Handicap
The bookmakers have made Southampton a ridiculously short 4/6 to win this match; curious given that they have won just one of their last fifteen in the Premier League!
You’d have to be a glutton for punishment to take those odds, and instead we can back Stoke in some way at a handsome rate.
The +1.00 Asian Handicap ensures our acca stays alive even if the Potteries side lose by a single goal here, so there’s every reason to add them to our coupon. They are a different outfit under Paul Lambert, and as they showed at Leicester last week they have the stomach for a fight.
Ryan Shawcross will return here to aid a Stoke defence that has only conceded two or more goals in one of Lambert’s five games in charge so far.
MK Dons vs Bristol Rovers: Bristol Rovers/Draw Double Chance
You have to go back to December 16 to find the last time that MK Dons scored two or more goals in a game, which explains why they have struggled so badly to win; that’s just one win in sixteen for the Milton Keynes outfit now.
Their more recent results would suggest that new boss Dan Micciche is going to try and defend his way out of the relegation zone; always a risky strategy.
This week’s visitors are Bristol Rovers, who seem to have found something of late. A formline of W5 D3 L2 is self-explanatory, and their ability to put the ball in the net – they’ve scored in eight of their last ten – means they may have too much firepower for the Dons on Saturday.
Southend United vs Walsall: Southend Draw No Bet
Chris Powell is doing a fine job in his early days at Southend, and his side’s results show a clear modus operandi from the former England left back.
A trio of home games have yielded three victories and nine goals scored, while on the road a pair of away days have delivered 0-0 and 1-0 verdicts.
So the Shrimpers are clearly given extra freedom to play at Roots Hall by the new boss, and that bodes well against a Walsall side that struggles on their travels (W3 D5 L9). The Saddlers last won on the road in November.
Coventry City vs Lincoln City: Coventry Draw No Bet
Coventry came through a pair of tough away dates against Mansfield and Wycombe with a highly respectable four points, and now that their FA Cup adventure is over they seem to have re-focused on the task in hand.
Lincoln are unconvincing on the road (W5 D5 L6), and they’ve lost their last two matches at an aggregate of 2-7; going down -3 and 1-4 to Crawley and Crewe respectively.
Incidentally, that dropping of the ball came after they booked their own Wembley date in the Football League Trophy final earlier in February, so clearly the Imps have taken their eye off the ball.
Troyes vs PSG: Troyes +2.50 Asian Handicap
If you are completely new to the French Ligue 1 and have looked at the league table, you might think we have lost our minds in picking Troyes here.
But stick with us, because there is some method to the perceived madness.
Troyes’ home form is a respectable W6 D3 L5, and the fact that they have conceded just eleven times in those fourteen outings speaks volumes.
All four occasions that PSG have dropped points in the league this term have been away dates, and there is a rather large elephant in the room here: Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg clash with Real Madrid, in which the Parisians need to overturn a two goal deficit.
So their focus will surely be elsewhere this weekend, and don’t forget that even if Troyes lose by two goals here our bet still lands.