The Early Bird: Weekend football predictions & free betting accumulator tips from James Milton

The Early Bird best bets

Crystal Palace to beat West Ham
3pm Saturday
2pts 7-5 general

Portsmouth to win & under 3.5 goals vs Sheffield Wednesday
3pm Saturday
3pts 5-4 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

Over 3.5 goals in Werder Bremen vs Freiburg
2.30pm Saturday
2pts 31-20 Paddy Power

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Best Premier League bet

West Ham vs Crystal Palace

3pm Saturday

West Ham have suffered heavy home defeats to Chelsea and Tottenham in the Premier League this season and this weekend Crystal Palace may become the third London club to triumph at the London Stadium.

Palace were held to a goalless draw by Sunderland last Saturday and they could be without key men Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr for the trip to east London.

However, Oliver Glasner's men are unbeaten in 16 matches after Tuesday's penalty-shootout win against Millwall in the EFL Cup.

Spain winger Yeremy Pino impressed against Sunderland and Palace, having retained centre-back Marc Guehi at least until the January transfer window, are hugely reliable in defence.

They were unfortunate not to take all three points in a 0-0 draw at Chelsea on the opening weekend and thrashed Aston Villa 3-0 in their most recent away fixture.

The atmosphere at the London Stadium is grim following a 5-1 loss to Chelsea and a 3-0 defeat to Spurs, in which Tomas Soucek was sent off, and FA Cup winners Palace could deepen the gloom.

Best EFL bet

Portsmouth vs Sheffield Wednesday

3pm Saturday

Sheffield Wednesday lost 1-0 at home to League Two Grimsby in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and the Owls are unlikely to hurt an impressive Portsmouth defence this weekend.

Wednesday have lost three of their last four Championship matches to nil although they produced a spirited performance in a 2-2 draw at Wrexham last month.

Portsmouth showed their quality and character in last weekend's 0-0 draw at south-coast rivals Southampton, where Andre Dozzell hit the crossbar and Pompey restricted Saints to one shot on target.

John Mousinho's men gave little away in their last home game, when Dozzell scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Preston, and they drew 1-1 at in-form West Brom on August 23.

Under 3.5 goals has been a winning bet in all six of Portsmouth's league and cup games this term and they can grind out a low-scoring win against Wednesday.

Best European bet

Werder Bremen vs Freiburg

2.30pm Saturday

Werder Bremen's last Bundesliga home game against Bayer Leverkusen produced drama on and off the field.

Despite having defender Niklas Stark sent off, Werder roared back from 3-1 down to earn a point, prompting Leverkusen to sack manager Erik ten Hag after just three matches in charge.

Either side of that 3-3 thriller, Werder lost 4-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt and won 4-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach and they can reward backers of over 3.5 goals again this weekend.

Visitors Freiburg produced a stirring comeback of their own last weekend, beating Stuttgart 3-1 having been behind until the 81st minute, and five of their last six league matches had over 3.5 goals.

Bankers, longshots and acca tips

The Early Bird Banker

Huddersfield 3-5
The Terriers lost at in-form Bradford last weekend but should bounce back with a fifth straight home win of the League One season against Burton.

Weekend Longshot

Thierry Gale to be first goalscorer vs Wigan 9-1
The Bolton winger had a couple of good chances in last weekend's draw at Leyton Orient and is averaging two shots per 90 minutes in League One this season.

The Early Bird Acca

Huddersfield 3-5
Bologna 5-6
Eintracht Frankfurt 4-7
Borussia Dortmund 1-2

£1 accumulator returns £6.90 with Coral

Both Teams To Score Treble

Fulham vs Brentford 3-4
Norwich vs Wrexham 4-6
Augsburg vs Mainz 7-10

£1 accumulator returns £4.97 with bet365

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James MiltonSports Betting Journalist

Published on 18 September 2025inFootball tips