We were back in better form last week, if hitting the proverbial bar, landing 4 out of our 5 selections.
Brentford v Wigan kept under 3.5 goals at 2-0 and a 90+3 minute equaliser for Aston Villa against Blackburn didn’t trouble us with our draw/win double chance.
Blackpool and Atlanta both also secured comfortable away victories only for Real Salt Lake to tie at home with a Minnesota side who had lost their last three on the bounce.
With renewed confidence we go again hoping for the clean sweep this weekend with five more picks for our acca.
| Match | Recommended Bet | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff City vs Manchester City | Over 2.5 goals | 4/9 |
| Leeds United vs Birmingham City | Leeds Win Draw No Bet | 1/3 |
| Middlesbrough vs Swansea City | Under 2.5 Goals | 4/6 |
| Portsmouth vs Wycombe Wanderers | Portsmouth to Win | 4/6 |
| Los Angeles FC vs San Jose Earthquakes | Los Angeles to Win | 3/10 |
| Five-Fold Acca Odds | 5.95/1 | |
Cardiff City vs Manchester City: Over 2.5 Goals
Manchester City may not have had the perfect start of early rivals Liverpool and Chelsea but they have pretty much started where they left off after steamrolling their way to the title last season.
With 14 goals in the first 5 games, they are the joint top scorers, putting 3 past one of Cardiff’s fellow promoted sides in Fulham last week, with Leroy Sane seemingly leaving his problems behind him.
Cardiff have had a tough start to life back in the big league with 2 draws and three defeats but Neil Warnock has indicated that his side are going to have a go at teams that visit the Cardiff City Stadium.
They actually took the lead last week at Chelsea and were plucky in defeat in a 2-3 loss to Arsenal before that.
Should Cardiff take the game to the Champions we can see a hat full of goals in this one.
Leeds United vs Birmingham City: Leeds Draw No Bet
Leeds certainly have churned through their managers since Andrea Radrizzani took charge with four changes in little over a year.
They seem to have hit the jackpot attracting Marcelo Bielsa to Elland Road though with the Yorkshire side clear at the top of the Championship.
Their four home fixtures so far have yielded 3 wins and 8 goals scored with a single goal conceded in return.
Birmingham and ex Leeds manager Gary Monk find themselves at the opposite end of the table in 21st position but have proved tough to beat with draws against West Brom, Swansea and Nottingham Forest and narrow defeats against Bolton and Middlesbrough.
We’ve gone for a Leeds Win Draw no Bet in the event that Birmingham manage to shut up shop on Saturday afternoon.
Middlesbrough vs Swansea City: Under 2.5 Goals
Tony Pulis has proven himself to be a consistent and solid manager over the years, but his sides are no entertainers.
Boro find themselves in 4th position in typically unspectacular style scoring only 9 times and conceding just 3 in their 7 games so far this campaign.
Swansea’s matches have been similarly goal shy, netting just 7 times themselves, with 4 of those coming from the boot of Oliver McBurnie. They’ve been solid at the back conceding only 6, with full back Connor Roberts earning a call up for Wales in during the last international break.
Under 2.5 goals has landed in 5/7 fixtures for Boro and 5/8 for Swansea so we see another low scoring affair here.
Portsmouth vs Wycombe Wanderers: Portsmouth to Win
After a slightly disappointing 8th place finish in their return to League One last season, Portsmouth have raced out of the blocks this term.
They’re unbeaten having won 6/8 in the league, drawing the other two. After secured the attacking talents of Ronan Curtis from Derry City before the summer, Pompey have been repaid with 5 goals and 5 assists. This early season form catching the eye of Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill who included him on the subs bench against Poland last week.
We see Curtis and fellow 5-goal attacker Jamal Lowe giving struggling Wycombe a torrid time and expect Portsmouth to add another 3 points to their tally.
Los Angeles FC vs San Jose Earthquakes: Los Angeles to Win
We cross the pond for a stateside final selection with Los Angeles FC taking on the Earthquakes from San Jose.
LA have only FC Dallas and Kansas City ahead of them in the Western Conference standings as they sit in third. San Jose find themselves already eliminated from play-off contention and are rock bottom of the division.
San Jose’s troubles are due in part to Andrew Tarbell’s form, or lack of it, between the sticks. The Quakes’ keeper has only had one clean sheet this term and has one of the lowest save percentages in the MLS. This in contrast to the player keeping goal at the other end on Saturday evening, Tyler Miller, who has 8 shutouts so far.
With former Arsenal attacker Carlos Vela and Uruguayan Diego Rossi in fine form for The Black and Gold, we think another LA victory is on the cards.