EFL weekend acca tips: Leicester too good for Ipswich, Forest Green’s woes continue, plus more…

EFL football pundit Russell Tovey, who runs his AGF service on Tipstrr, has put his three best bets together for us into another tasty weekend treble that is carrying combined odds of around 9/2 at the time of writing.

 

Fleetwood Town vs Portsmouth

Fleetwood are having a disastrous season and sit bottom of the table after going winless in twelve matches, losing ten of those, are eight points off safety and are now onto their third manager of the season. 

Charlie Adam has admittedly only had three games in charge and could yet be the man to turn their season around, and there were positives last time out when they only lost 2-1 at Cambridge after conceding a 90th minute winner.

The xG difference in that game was minimal and, since it was 0-0 after 70 minutes, they put in a performance that could be an indication that better is to come.

Their opponents this weekend are top-of-the-table Portsmouth, who themselves are in poor form. They have only picked up one win in their last six league games and were on the end of a pretty humiliating defeat last time out, losing 3-0 at home to Leyton Orient, with all three goals coming before half time. 

After a rough few weeks that have seen their lead at the top be completely wiped out, they need a response.

Before their recent poor run, they were excellent, particularly away from home, and before losing at Bristol Rovers, they were on a 16-game unbeaten streak away from home.

I can understand any reservations with this selection as we are backing a side in poor form, so I would advise leaving this one out if that is something with which you are not comfortable. 

My gut feeling is that Portsmouth will be too strong for Fleetwood, who themselves are on a terrible run. It also helps that Portsmouth have a strong record at Fleetwood, winning six of their eight trips there, including each of the last three.

Suggested bet: Portsmouth to win (4/6)

 

Gillingham vs Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green have had an awful week. After manager Troy Deeney publicly criticised his players after losing at home to Harrogate, he was sacked on Thursday, less than 48 hours before this fixture. 

When a club has multiple managers in a season, it is often a sign that they are in trouble, and if you include preseason, Forest Green are now onto their fourth manager of the season, and we are only in January!

They have also been in poor form for a while now, having won only two of their last sixteen matches, both coming against sixth-tier Scarborough Athletic in a twice-played FA Cup tie.

After picking up seven points from their opening three away games, they have only picked up two points from a possible twenty-seven since.

With their preparation for this weekend’s game being heavily disrupted, as well as being in terrible form, it is hard not to fancy the home side for this one.

Gillingham are not in the worst of form either, having won three in a row in the league. Hopefully they can make it four on the bounce this weekend.

Suggested bet: Gillingham to win (3/4)

Leicester City vs Ipswich Town

We have to wait until Monday night for what is the biggest  game of the weekend in the EFL, with the top two in the Championship meeting at the King Power Stadium.

The two sides played each other at Portman Road on Boxing Day, with Ipswich scoring a 90th minute equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw.

Ipswich are a far stronger side when playing at Portman Road than on the road, so the fact that Leicester nearly won there just a couple of weeks ago gives me confidence that they will go one better on Monday.

After winning their opening four away games, Ipswich have won just three of their last nine on the road, and while they have only lost two, they came against two of the stronger teams in the division, losing 2-0 at West Brom and getting battered 4-0 at Leeds. They visit Leicester, who are the strongest team in the division both home and away.

Both sides have players missing through injury or international duty, but Leicester have far stronger replacements to call upon, as you would expect considering there were two divisions between these sides last season. 

Getting odds at close to evens for a Leicester win against anybody in the division, home or away, would tempt me to back them, so getting it for a home game against a side who have recently seen a dip in form looks like excellent value to me.

Suggested bet: Leicester to win (10/11)

 

Weekend treble summary:

Fleetwood vs Portsmouth   Portsmouth win (4/6)

Gillingham vs Forest Green   Gillingham win (3/4)

Leicester vs Ipswich   Leicester win (10/11)

Back all three selections as singles and/or bundle them together into a treble at combined odds of just under 9/2 on Planet Sport Bet (prices subject to change).

Tips were provided by Rhys Tovey, who runs his AGF football service on Tipstrr