James Milton's Saturday FA Cup & EFL predictions & free betting accumulator tips

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

Best bets

Norwich
3pts 4-5 general
Nottingham Forest
1pt 8-5 Hills
Leyton Orient draw no bet
2pts 13-5 Betfair, Paddy Power

Norwich City v Coventry City

Midday Saturday

Norwich and Coventry should both be in good spirits at the midway point of their Championship campaigns but the classy Canaries look solid favourites when the teams meet in the FA Cup third round.

Daniel Farke's side have responded superbly to finishing bottom of the Premier League last season and they are top of the second division with 47 points from 23 games.

While Norwich aim for an immediate return to the top flight, Coventry are bidding to establish themselves in the Championship following promotion in 2019-20.

They are seven points clear of the relegation zone after losing just two of their last 12 league games – a run that includes a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road in November.

Coventry boss and former Norwich striker Mark Robins will have been delighted with Maxime Biamou's 89th-minute equaliser but the Canaries were missing 13 senior players through injury that day.

Norwich's squad is in far better shape now and they dominated in-form Barnsley in their most recent league fixture, when Farke suggested the 1-0 scoreline might easily have been 4-0 or 5-0.

Even if the manager chooses to rest some of his stars, Norwich should have too much quality for a Coventry side who have failed to score in five of their last seven league matches.

Nottingham Forest v Cardiff City

Midday Saturday

There will be no shortage of FA Cup pedigree in the dugouts at the City Ground where Chris Hughton's Nottingham Forest host a Cardiff side managed by Neil Harris.

Hughton lifted the cup twice as a Tottenham player while Harris led the line for Millwall against a Manchester United side featuring Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy in the 2004 final.

Improving their lowly league status is the priority for both managers but Hughton's Forest go into this cup tie in better form after going five games unbeaten in the league for the first time this season.

They have conceded only two goals during those five matches and the return of striker Lewis Grabban, who scored the winner at Preston last weekend, provides a real cutting edge to their attack.

Cardiff made the Championship playoff last season and beat Sabri Lamouchi's Forest 2-0 at the City Ground in their second game of the 2020-21 campaign.

However, they have slipped down the table in recent weeks, losing four of their last five matches including a 2-1 defeat at struggling Wycombe last time out.

The Bluebirds have conceded at least twice in their last five matches and that defensive frailty could be exposed by a Forest side who look harder to beat under new boss Hughton.

Carlisle United v Leyton Orient

1pm Saturday

Away from the FA Cup, there is an intriguing fixture in League Two where leaders Carlisle host ninth-placed Leyton Orient.

It is tight at the top of the fourth division and only six points separate these teams while only Carlisle and second-placed Newport County have more victories in the section than Orient's ten.

The Cumbrians have to be respected after winning eight of their ten home matches although three of those victories have come against bottom-four sides Barrow, Stevenage and Southend.

Chris Beech's team blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Bolton in their most recent game at Brunton Park and at the prices they are worth opposing against Orient.

The Londoners have been excellent at home, winning six of their last seven games on their own patch including a 4-0 rout of Bolton and victories over Newport and Salford.

Danny Johnson's winner against Salford took his league tally for the season to 14 goals and he poses a major threat to the Carlisle defence, having scored the opener on recent trips to highflying Morecambe and Cambridge.

Orient ended up losing both games 2-1 – they have suffered defeats by that scoreline in all five of their away matches against top-half teams – but they are rarely outclassed at this level and can cause problems for the league leaders.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Leicester
The Foxes have the strength in depth to see off a Stoke side who have scored five goals in their last ten Championship matches.

Blowout
Brighton
Graham Potter's men face an awkward trip to Newport, who are flying high in League Two. County have won eight of their last ten home FA Cup ties and held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in January 2018.

Accumulator
Leicester 4-5, Manchester United 1-3, Swansea 1-2, Bournemouth 40-85. £1 accumulator returns £5.28 with Betfair.

Both teams to score
Games at Blackburn 8-11, Exeter 8-11, Huddersfield 4-6. £1 treble returns £5.00 with Betfred & Betway.

Thought for the week

Remember when foreign managers were blamed for devaluing the FA Cup by picking weakened teams?

If only they had heard this week's rallying cry from an experienced manager asked to share the secret of his cup success: "If there is any secret it's to take it seriously. To respect what English football is, what English clubs are, what English lower divisions are."

Stirring words from that stout-hearted English patriot, er, Jose Mourinho. Sadly, bookmakers are wise to Jose's focused approach to cup ties and there isn't much juice in Tottenham's odds to beat 80-1 hosts Marine on Sunday.

Harry Redknapp is the only English boss to win the FA Cup in the last 25 years – a remarkable statistic, even if most of the fancied runners have been steered by overseas coaches during that time.

I maintain that struggling Premier League managers overestimate the risk of injuries or fatigue and underrate the reward of a morale-boosting cup run for players feeling the intense pressure of a relegation scrap.

Sean Dyche (Burnley), Graham Potter (Brighton), Scott Parker (Fulham), Sam Allardyce (West Brom) and Chris Wilder (Sheffield United) would surely benefit from naming strong line-ups against lower-league opponents this weekend.

And Frank Lampard probably shouldn't tinker too much with his team selection for Chelsea's home tie against Morecambe.

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