James Milton: Saturday EFL predictions & free betting accumulator tips

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

Best bets

Barnsley
3pts 23-20 Betfred, Coral

Charlton
2pts 23-20 Coral, Hills

Walsall draw no bet
2pts 13-10 BoyleSports

Coventry City v Barnsley

3pm Sunday

Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael described the first half of last weekend's Championship clash with Middlesbrough as "a sleepy game" and there has been a dreamlike quality to the entire season for the Tykes.

They stirred from their slumbers to claim a 2-0 win over Boro thanks to second-half goals from Alex Mowatt and Daryl Dike and they can pick up another three points at lowly Coventry on Sunday.

Barnsley start the weekend in sixth place, level on points with fifth-placed Bournemouth, having avoided relegation by just one point last season.

That is a remarkable turnaround but Ismael's men seem to be taking their unexpected push for the playoffs in their stride and they are worth backing to claim a seventh straight away win at Coventry.

The January loan signing of striker Dike has paid off handsomely as the USA striker has scored eight times in 14 league appearances and Barnsley's winning streak on the road includes victories at their promotion rivals Brentford and Bournemouth.

They have won all five of their away games against teams in the bottom seven, where Coventry remain despite a 1-0 win away to Rotherham on Thursday night.

Cov's form at their adopted home St Andrew's is keeping them afloat, with eight wins in 20 games this term, but they lost 4-1 at Bournemouth last weekend and face another tough fixture against in-form opponents.

Charlton Athletic v Ipswich Town

12.30pm Saturday

Charlton have boosted their chances of making the League One playoffs with a couple of impressive away wins at Doncaster and Sunderland and they can dent Ipswich's top-six hopes back at The Valley.

The departure of manager Lee Bowyer to Birmingham last month was hardly ideal for a club involved in a tight battle at the top of the third tier, but his successor Nigel Adkins has picked up seven points from his first three matches in charge.

The Addicks rode their luck in the win at Sunderland, whose in-form striker Charlie Wyke missed a couple of great chances, but they should be confident of seeing off Ipswich.

The Suffolk side are among the lowest scorers in the division with 41 goals from 40 games – eight fewer than bottom club Rochdale – and after last weekend's 3-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon, they have notched just once in their last five away matches.

Charlton showed their firepower by coming from 2-0 down to beat Bristol Rovers 3-2 in their last home game and they look a solid bet to stop the Tractor Boys in their tracks.

Colchester United v Walsall

5.30pm Saturday

After drawing 19 of their first 39 matches in League Two, Walsall have recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since December and they are worth backing – with the draw no bet, naturally – to complete the hat-trick at Colchester.

The Saddlers had four straight stalemates before picking up maximum points from home games against Forest Green last Saturday and Tranmere on Tuesday.

They allowed those top-seven teams just four shots on target between them, conceding only twice in their last six games, and they look a big price to take another three points in Essex.

Walsall have drawn 13 of their 20 away matches and three of their four road defeats have come against title contenders Cheltenham, Cambridge and Bolton.

Hosts Colchester are at the opposite end of the table and last weekend's 5-2 defeat at Oldham stretched their winless run to ten matches.

Wayne Brown's men have won only one of their last 12 games and they may find resurgent Walsall hard to break down.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Watford
The Hornets have tightened their grip on second place in the Championship with ten wins in their last 12 and they should be too good for derby rivals Luton, who have lost 15 of their 20 meetings with top-half teams.

Blowout
Middlesbrough
QPR suffered a 3-1 defeat at Rotherham in midweek but they had won 11 of their previous 18 Championship matches and can trouble a Boro side who have taken one point from their last four games.

Accumulator
Arsenal 3-4, Watford 5-6, Monaco 4-6, Real Madrid 8-13. £1 accumulator returns £8.66 with Betfred.

Both teams to score
Games at AFC Wimbledon 10-11, Morecambe 4-5, Manchester United 11-10. £1 treble returns £7.22 with BoyleSports.

Thought for the week

Most fans, at some point in their football-watching careers, have sagely declared that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead but West Ham seem intent on disproving that old adage.

In their last three Premier League matches, the Hammers have stormed into 3-0 leads in 32 minutes against Arsenal, 38 minutes against Wolves and 48 minutes against Leicester.

The Gunners came back to draw 3-3 at the London Stadium and David Moyes's men had to cling on for 3-2 wins over Wolves and Leicester.

Moyes would probably argue that being in the position to blow a three-goal advantage every week is a nice problem to have and the Hammers will be aiming to blast out of the traps again at slow-starting Newcastle.

Loan star Jesse Lingard personifies their early threat, with his last five goals coming in the 21st, 15th, sixth, 29th and 44th minutes. He is 5-1 to score first and the Hammers are 23-10 with Hills to be leading after 30 minutes.

The West Ham-Newcastle double result is a general 33-1 chance and it is worth noting that the Magpies have scored 11 of their 32 Premier League goals in the last ten minutes of matches.

And, famously, Arsenal drew 4-4 at Newcastle in 2011, having been 4-0 up after 26 minutes – which is categorically not the most dangerous lead in football.

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