Mark Langdon's Christmas EFL tips and football accumulators

Free football tips, bets and analysis.

Best bets

Fulham
1pt 17-20 general
Crewe draw no bet
1pt 4-5 general
Northampton draw no bet
2pts 19-20 Coral, Ladbrokes
Swindon
1pt 5-6 Sky Bet

Crawley v Northampton

3pm Thursday

There has not been much in the way of Christmas cheer at Crawley and things could be about to get even worse for the Red Devils when Northampton visit on Boxing Day.

One victory in 14 games would be bad enough but there is drama behinds the scenes too. The club's popular operations director was dismissed, sparking an angry response from benefactor and former owner Paul Hayward, who has said he will withdraw any further financial support unless the decision is reversed.

Hayward is at least still committed to buying a new scoreboard for the stadium but it's not as if Crawley need one at the moment.

They have fired blanks in three successive home league matches and boss John Yems has been unable to halt their downward spiral since replacing Gabriele Cioffi.

Crawley lost 2-1 at Oldham on Saturday and the performance was worse than the result.

Oldham had nine shots on target to Crawley's one and Northampton will fancy themselves as favourites even if the bookmakers disagree.

Cobblers have lost only one of their last nine - 3-2 at second-placed Exeter - and in assist king Nicky Adams, they have a player who can prey on a lack of confidence in the home ranks.

Swindon v Cambridge United

3pm Thursday

League Two leaders Swindon failed to make it eight wins in a row when they threw away a two-goal advantage at Forest Green on Saturday but they look fairly priced odds-on favourites at home to Cambridge.

Hotshot Eoin Doyle scored another two goals, taking his tally to a remarkable 21 this season for the forward who is on loan from Bradford. That is more than double any other player in the division and teammate Jerry Yates is his nearest Golden Boot challenger on ten.

Doyle and Yates have scored more goals than Cambridge this season and that extra firepower should prove decisive.

Cambridge were beaten 3-2 at home by Leyton Orient on Saturday and they also lost Kyle Knoyle to injury and Reggie Lambe to suspension for the tough trip to the County Ground.

Salford v Crewe

3pm Thursday

Salford survived a Bradford onslaught to nick a 1-1 draw at Valley Parade but they could be put to the sword by Crewe.

Gary Alexander's men were on the back foot throughout at the weekend with Bradford having 61 per cent possession and winning the shot count 26-9. It was 5-1 for shots on target and Salford will have been relieved that sickness in the camp weakened the hosts on the eve of the contest.

Crewe are unlikely to pass up the same kind of opportunities if they come their way. Alex smashed five past Stevenage last time out and only Swindon have scored more than Crewe in League Two.

Luton v Fulham

Sky Sports red button, 3pm Thursday

Fulham got more than they deserved in beating Leeds 2-1 at Craven Cottage on Saturday but Scott Parker's side may not need to be particularly special to see off Luton.

The Hatters have found the step up to the second tier too hot to handle and Fulham's forward department, led by the Championship's top goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, should decide the match.

Parker still has plenty to prove with Fulham yet to fully look like the side many predicted would comfortably bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

However, Mitrovic gives them individual quality above the normal standard of a Championship striker and Luton possess the worst record in the division with 47 goals conceded.

They also have the worst goal difference at minus 19.

Christmas accumulators

Banker
Swindon 5-6
Swindon's record against teams outside the top ten is played 14, won 13 and lost one. That includes a 1-0 success at Cambridge in September and the Robins can complete the double.

Blowout
Crystal Palace 5-4
West Ham will be fresh having seen their match postponed on Saturday and they take on a Palace side missing a number of players due to injury and on a run of two wins in ten.

Accumulator
Leeds 2-5, Burton 8-13, Oxford 8-11, Swindon 5-6. £1 accumulator returns £7.16 with Sky Bet.

Both teams to score
Games at Aston Villa 1-2, Barnsley 4-7, Southend 7-10. £1 treble returns £4.01 with Hills.

Thought for the week

Former Juventus coach Max Allegri gave a fascinating interview to the New York Times last week where he quoted Federico Tesio, described earlier this year in the Racing Post as "the greatest all-round horseman in the history of thoroughbred racing and breeding".

"Federico said that you can tell how a horse will run from the way its legs move in the morning and it is the same with footballers," explained Allegri, who went on to say he believed "sensations" are more important than tactics.

Allegri does not own a computer, is sceptical of reliance on data and admitted in the summer that "Pep Guardiola football is not for everyone".

When Juventus sacked Allegri they did so after five straight years of winning Serie A but it was not enough.

They replaced him with the complete opposite coach in Maurizio Sarri, a man who would place his philosophy above collecting trophies, which is just as well for a man with a sole Europa League success to his name.

There is clearly more than one way to be a successful coach and to that extent it will be fascinating to see how Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti are judged at Arsenal and Everton respectively.

Ancelotti is a man more in Allegri's camp. He has no grand ideology on how the game should be played whereas Arteta, we presume given his close links to Guardiola, is going to live or die by style.

It is perhaps telling that Ancelotti's career is on a downward spiral and Arteta got a big gig first up. Increasingly style matters.

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