Mark Langdon's free weekend football tips and accumulators

Free football tips, bets and analysis.

Best bets

Crewe
1pt 7-8 Betway
Click to back this selection with Coral

Bradford
1pt 13-10 general
Click to bet on this tip with bet365

Manchester United
1pt 4-5 Betfair, RedZone
Click to back this tip with Hills

Crewe v Mansfield

Saturday 3pm

Rookie boss John Dempster is lucky to still be in charge at Mansfield but unless things improve dramatically it surely won't be long before one of the Sky Bet League Two ante-post favourites make the obvious managerial change.

The Stags are a shocking 18th in the division but Dempster is still talking about long-term objectives and how he wants to reshape the squad in January.

He is also targeting 17 wins in the second half of the season to make the playoffs which seems even less realistic following a shambolic 3-0 home defeat to Cheltenham last time out.

"There has been heavy investment," admitted Dempster after watching his team fail to register a shot on target while conceding eight efforts on goal as Town's goal drought stretched to three matches.

It's quite difficult to believe one of the best teams in the division last season could have fallen so dramatically following some decent summer signings, but the fact is that performances have been as bad as the results.

There is little evidence they will be up to the task of stopping Crewe's slick attack as the Railwaymen look to get back to league business following last week's postponement against Macclesfield.

Crewe have won all eight matches against bottom-half opponents this term and can make it an unhappy return to Gresty Road for former forward Nicky Maynard.

Leyton Orient v Bradford

Saturday 3pm

Bradford have the best home record in League Two and they can take that form on the road to Leyton Orient.

It's been an average away return for Gary Bowyer's outfit with only three triumphs – at Walsall, Stevenage and Morecambe – but there is no reason why the Bantams should continue to punch below their weight on their travels.

Jake Reeves has made an excellent impact since returning from a long injury layoff and veteran forward James Vaughan has started to find his shooting boots with four goals in his last five league outings.

Orient have found it tough since gaining promotion from the National League – understandably so given the death of manager Justin Edinburgh before the campaign started.

The east London side are nine matches without a win in all competitions and have suffered some shocking results, including an FA Cup exit at the hands of Maldon & Tiptree.

Manchester United v Everton

Sky Sports Football, 2pm Sunday

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has put up with plenty of flak from outsiders since he was given the Manchester United job so his side's last two Premier League performances will have given him tremendous pleasure.

United put in a seasonal-best show to beat Tottenham 2-1 at Old Trafford and then bettered that display to claim a famous success in the Manchester derby away to City.

Some of the Red Devils' counter-attacking play at the Etihad was absolutely sensational and it gives Solskjaer a platform to launch a more fruitful second half of the campaign.

They can continue the good work by beating Everton, just like they have Leicester, Chelsea and Spurs at Old Trafford. United are also the only side to have stopped Liverpool from winning in this season's Premier League.

Everton raised their game last week to overcome Chelsea 3-1 in their first match since Marco Silva was sacked.

Duncan Ferguson turned up the temperature as the squad reacted positively to his every urging on the touchline.

Big Dunc and the Goodison crowd go together perfectly but it could be a different story away from Merseyside and the Toffees have lost eight of their last 12 Premier League matches.

Everton have suffered defeats in six of their eight away league outings and tend to struggle at Old Trafford, with just two victories at the venue in the Premier League era.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Manchester United 4-5
The Red Devils have already beaten Tottenham, Leicester and Chelsea at Old Trafford this season and should be able to see off Everton despite a quick turnaround from the Europa League.

Blowout
Sunderland 21-20
Former Black Cats boss Simon Grayson would love to get a result with Blackpool and he could be in luck. Sunderland have one win – against shocking Southend – in their last ten outings.

Accumulator
Borussia Dortmund 4-6, Marseile 5-6 Leipzig 9-20 Man Utd
31-40. £1 accumulator returns £7.86 with Betway.

Both teams to score
Games at Wolves 14-19, Bologna 4-7, Sevilla 9-13. £1 treble returns £4.62 with RedZone

Thought for the week

Given that there is now forensic analysis to decide whether the armpit of an attacking player has strayed an inch beyond the defensive line, it is remarkable that one of football's greatest crimes is still permitted to occur.

Not diving or spitting at an opponent but referees failing to add on the correct additional time.

There was a scandal in Amsterdam on Tuesday which few people seemed to care about but is a blatant error by match officials, who admittedly have enough on their plates trying to stop all manner of gamesmanship or cheating.

There were five minutes of injury time announced for Ajax versus Valencia as the Dutch side, losing 1-0, searched for the goal which would take them into the Champions League knockout stages.

At 2:45 of that stoppage time (yes, I have gone back on the tape to check the exact time) Valencia defender Gabriel kicked the ball out for a corner. There was a subsequent fracas which saw Gabriel sent off before the nine-man Spanish side made a substitution.

The arbiter was pointing at his watch during the clear time-wasting to show everyone he had stopped the clock and at 4:56 Hakim Ziyech was finally able to take the corner awarded from over two minutes earlier. At exactly 6:00 the full-time whistle went.

The time-thief referee is called Clement Turpin. Maybe he should be renamed Dick Turpin.

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