James Milton: Saturday EFL predictions & free betting accumulator tips
Progressive Preston can follow up impressive midweek win
Free football tips, bets and analysis for this weekend's Premier League, EFL and Bundesliga action.
Best bets
Preston
1pt 8-5 Betway, Hills
Blackburn draw no bet
2pts 20-23 BoyleSports
Coventry
1pt 11-8 Betfred, Betway, Hills
Luton Town v Preston North End
3pm Saturday
Luton and Preston are level on 23 points after 17 games of their Championship campaigns but the visitors look the more progressive side.
Alex Neil's North End made a sluggish start to the season, hampered by a lengthy injury list, but they have achieved some eye-catching results in the past couple of weeks.
On December 1 they inflicted a first home defeat of the season on title contenders Bournemouth, going 3-0 up at Dean Court before holding out for a 3-2 win.
That was Preston's fifth victory in eight away games, including a 3-0 win at early leaders Reading and a 4-2 victory over promotion hopefuls Brentford, and they conceded a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Norwich at Carrow Road.
North End's home record had been holding them back but they were good value for Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Deepdale – an impressive scoreline given that Boro had conceded only 11 goals in their previous 16 games.
Defenders Andrew Hughes and Josh Earl returned from injury against Boro while Darnell Fisher and Daniel Johnson are available after suspensions.
Preston will have been buoyed by their victory over Middlesbrough and are worth backing to see off a Luton side who have failed to score in three of their last four games.
They beat leaders Norwich 3-1 in their last match at Kenilworth Road but have taken just two points from their other seven games against teams above them in the table and may struggle against this weekend's improving visitors.
Blackburn Rovers v Norwich City
3pm Saturday
The bottom three in the Premier League last season are currently the top three in the Championship with Norwich leading the way from Bournemouth and Watford.
Daniel Farke deserves great credit for the Canaries' start to the season, particularly given the injury problems his squad has suffered.
Ben Gibson and Przemyslaw Placheta are sidelined for the trip to Blackburn although Todd Cantwell and Kenny McLean returned as substitutes in the midweek 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest.
Jordan Hugill and Kieran Dowell were also back on the bench on Wednesday, highlighting Norwich's depth of talent, but Farke's men face a tough fixture at Ewood Park.
Norwich made hard work of beating out-of-form Forest, with Emi Buendia scoring a deflected winner in the 77th minute, and they needed two goals in the last ten minutes to turn things around against Sheffield Wednesday in their previous outing.
Before then they lost 3-1 at Luton and drew 1-1 as hot favourites at home to Coventry so they look worth opposing against a dangerous Blackburn side.
Rovers lost 1-0 at Bristol City on Wednesday but they dominated possession and had seven shots on target to the Robins' three.
Before that loss Tony Mowbray's side were unbeaten in seven matches including home wins over QPR, Barnsley and Millwall, a 3-0 victory at Preston and a 2-2 draw away to Brentford.
They are the leading scorers in the division with 31 goals – eight more than Norwich – with Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott adding quality to an exciting attacking unit.
Wycombe Wanderers v Coventry City
3pm Saturday
Coventry are still waiting for their first away win since returning to the Championship but they have acquitted themselves well in some tough fixtures and can take maximum points from their trip to Wycombe.
Cov are unbeaten in six games, including home wins over Cardiff and Rotherham and a 1-1 draw at leaders Norwich.
Their defence took time to adjust to the step up but their midweek 0-0 draw with Luton made it three clean sheets in six games for Mark Robins's men, who restricted the Hatters to just one shot on target.
League One playoff winners Wycombe also struggled early on, losing their first seven matches in the second division, and their lack of attacking firepower is a major concern.
The Chairboys have scored only three goals in eight home matches in the Championship and their only victory was a 1-0 win over bottom club Sheffield Wednesday in which they had just 28 per cent of possession.
Weekend accumulators
Banker
Southampton
Sheffield United's rotten run must end at some point – eight of their last nine defeats have been by a one-goal margin – but probably not at St Mary's, where Danny Ings should return to Southampton's 11.
Blowout
Watford
Only one of Watford's eight Championship victories have come away from home and hosts Birmingham are on the up after wins over top-six teams Bristol City and Reading in their last two games.
Accumulator
Chelsea 4-5, Southampton 8-11, Accrington 5-4, RB Leipzig 4-11. £1 accumulator returns £9.53 with Betfred.
Both teams to score
Games at MK Dons 8-11, Peterborough 17-20, Salford 17-20. £1 treble returns £5.92 with Hills.
Thought for the week
Manchester United's Champions League exit on Tuesday must have been particularly tough for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to accept given that his team made such a promising start against RB Leipzig.
By going 2-0 down inside 13 minutes, United executed the first part of their away gameplan perfectly – they have trailed in all five of their Premier League road games this season and come back to win on every occasion.
The tactic went awry when Justin Kluivert added a third for Leipzig in the 69th minute and United could conjure up only two of the three late goals they needed to avoid elimination.
Solskjaer can ill afford another sluggish start when United host Manchester City this weekend while Mikel Arteta is also under pressure as Arsenal, like the Red Devils, keep stumbling out of the blocks this term.
The Gunners have not been leading at half-time in the Premier League since Alexandre Lacazette's eighth-minute goal at Fulham on the opening weekend and they have scored only three first-half goals in their last ten matches.
The Arsenal-Arsenal double result against Burnley looks easy to swerve at 11-8 but Arteta's side must find a way to release the handbrake, as Arsene Wenger might say, in the early stages of matches.
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