James Milton: Saturday EFL predictions & free betting accumulator tips

Free football tips, bets and analysis for this weekend's Premier League, EFL and European action.

Best bets

AFC Wimbledon
2pts 9-4 bet365
Birmingham
1pt 11-5 Betfred, Hills
Port Vale
2pts 13-10 Hills

Ipswich Town v AFC Wimbledon

3pm Saturday

Free-scoring AFC Wimbledon extended their winning run in League One to four matches with a 2-1 victory over Oxford on Tuesday and they are a big price to defeat toothless hosts Ipswich.

The teams met less than two weeks ago when Wimbledon beat the Tractor Boys 3-0. Ipswich's cause was not helped by a 28th-minute red card for Josh Harrop but by then they were already trailing 2-0, a significant deficit for a team who have struggled for goals all season.

Only bottom club Bristol Rovers have scored fewer goals than Ipswich's tally of 41 in 42 games and a five-match run without a goal has put a serious dent in Town's playoff hopes.

Wimbledon, in contrast, are red-hot in front of goal, following wide-margin wins over Accrington (5-1) and Swindon (4-1).

They ended Oxford's three-match winning streak with a 2-1 home victory on Tuesday and have little to fear from an Ipswich side who have scored just three goals in their last nine games, two of them against struggling Bristol Rovers.

Derby County v Birmingham City

3pm Saturday

Birmingham's appointment of Lee Bowyer paid immediate dividends as the former Charlton boss won his first game in charge against Reading on March 17.

A Harlee Dean header proved decisive that day and the Blues skipper struck another crucial goal at Rotherham on Sunday, nodding in an 88th-minute winner to take Birmingham nine points clear of the Championship relegation zone.

Dean has also been leading by example at the other end of the pitch as Birmingham were on course for a fifth straight clean sheet before conceding a 98th-minute penalty in Wednesday's draw with Nottingham Forest.

A late spot-kick from Scott Hogan gave Bowyer's men a 1-0 win over Swansea before a goalless draw at Brentford, the leading scorers in the division, and a more comfortable 2-0 home victory against Stoke.

The win at Rotherham has eased the pressure significantly on Birmingham but Derby, beaten 3-0 at Preston on Tuesday, remain in trouble, four points ahead of the Millers having played two games more.

The result at Deepdale was the Rams' eighth loss in 11 games and Birmingham are worth backing to avenge their 4-0 defeat in December's reverse fixture.

Port Vale v Bradford City

3pm Saturday

An outrageous long-range goal from Tom Conlon set Port Vale on their way to a 2-0 win at Barrow on Tuesday and epitomised Vale's remarkable upturn in form in League Two.

Darrell Clarke's men have won seven and drawn one of their last eight matches, having taken just three points from their previous eight outings, and visitors Bradford may struggle to halt their charge this weekend.

The Bantams had their own golden run earlier this season, losing only once in 15 games between mid-December and the first week of March, but defeats to Crawley, Harrogate and Tranmere in their last three fixtures have left them with little to play for.

Bradford failed to have a shot on target against Tranmere and managed only three in their most recent win, a 1-0 home victory over Grimsby who had Stefan Payne sent off for headbutting a teammate just before half-time.

The visitors can expect few gifts from a Vale defence who have conceded only three goals in their last ten league matches, beating top-eight teams Morecambe and Exeter to nil in their last two home games.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Oxford
Oxford should bounce back from their midweek League One defeat at AFC Wimbledon, where they led until James Henry's red card for handball on the goalline, as visitors Plymouth have conceded 13 goals in four games.

Blowout
Norwich
QPR's impressive 2021 form continued with away wins over Middlesbrough and Swansea and they are unlikely to roll over for Norwich, who have lost both of their games since sealing promotion.

Accumulator
Watford 8-15, Oxford 8-13, Sevilla 9-20, Borussia Monchengladbach 8-15. £1 accumulator returns £5.50 with Betfred.

Both teams to score
Games at Cardiff Evs, Wigan 4-5, Parma 7-10. £1 treble returns £6.12 with Hills.

Thought for the week

The proposed European Super League swiftly collapsed in farcical circumstances but the fallout from this week's attempted breakaway looks set to continue for a long time.

Heads have already started to roll, balances of power are shifting, and football fans can feel justly proud of their part in derailing the self-appointed ESL juggernaut.

One minor consequence, perhaps, will be an end to the disingenuous propaganda used by clubs to persuade their supporters to buy merchandise.

Fans of the six Premier League clubs who performed the ignoble ESL hokey-cokey must retain their sense of righteous indignation and remember that they do hold the power to defy billionaire owners.

Start off by ignoring the next marketing email or social-media post about a newly-released kit that "celebrates the club's DNA" (Manchester United), "unites generations" (Arsenal) or even "ventures into the realm of statement shirting" (Chelsea).

For too long, terms like 'heritage', 'tradition' and 'community' have been cynically used by clubs to squeeze as much money as possible out of their captive audiences.

A boycott of official merchandise is one straightforward way for 'legacy fans' to hit back at owners who have paraded their ignorance of, and contempt for, their teams' sporting histories and identities.

It is going to take more than a special-edition third kit featuring the club's 'core values' woven into the collar to heal the rift between owners and supporters of the not-so-Super six.

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