James Milton's football predictions & free betting accumulator tips

Best bets

Draw-Brentford double result v Nottingham Forest
3pm Saturday
1pt 15-4 Hills

Joel Piroe first goalscorer v Hull
3pm Saturday
1pt 5-1 bet365

Mainz draw no bet v Wolfsburg
Sky Sports Football, 4.30pm Sunday
2pts 6-5 general

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Best Premier League bet

Brentford v Nottingham Forest
3pm Saturday

Nottingham Forest's away record has been hampering their bid for Premier League survival and they face a tough test at Brentford on Saturday.

Both clubs enjoyed excellent midweek results – Forest won 3-1 at home to Brighton on Wednesday while the Bees beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge – but the weekend contest could be a slow-burning affair.

Forest have lost their last five away matches in the league but three of those games were 0-0 at half-time, including the 4-0 defeat at West Ham and last weekend's 3-2 reverse at Liverpool.

Brentford have been rock-solid at home this season, with their only defeats in 16 matches coming against Arsenal and Newcastle, but they may need to be patient if they are to break down Forest. Thomas Frank's men have scored just one first-half goal in their last five matches – Cesar Azpilicueta's 37th-minute own goal for Chelsea on Wednesday – so the draw-Brentford double result is worth a bet.

Best EFL bet

Hull v Swansea
3pm Saturday

Swansea continued their stirring end to the Championship campaign with a 3-0 win at Norwich last weekend and they will be targeting a seventh victory in eight games at Hull on Saturday.

Dutch forward Joel Piroe had a quiet game at Carrow Road, where his only shot was off target, but he remains a worthy favourite to open the scoring at the MKM Stadium.

In his previous eight league appearances Piroe racked up 33 attempts, scoring six goals, and he has found the net 19 times in his last 38 games for the Swans during an impressive 2022-23 season.

He was the first goalscorer in ten of those matches and should be looking forward to another crack at the Hull defence, having scored the third goal in Swansea's 3-0 win over the Tigers in September, when he had six shots at goal in 88 minutes.

Best European bet

Wolfsburg v Mainz
Sky Sports Football, 4.30pm Sunday

Mainz produced an outstanding second-half performance last weekend to beat Bayern Munich 3-1 and stretch their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to ten matches.

Bo Svensson's side look a decent draw-no-bet selection for Sunday's trip to Wolfsburg, who beat Mainz 3-0 in November's reverse fixture but are now two points behind them, on the fringes of the European places.

Mainz showed their composure against Bayern last time out, falling behind to a 29th-minute Sadio Mane goal before hitting back with three second-half strikes. They ended the game with four shots on target to Bayern's two and have also impressed away from home recently, winning 3-0 at RB Leipzig and 3-2 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Their only league defeats in 2023 were 2-1 losses to top-three clubs Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin, whose winners came in the 90th and 84th minutes, and hosts Wolfsburg have failed to win any of their last six home matches.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Sunderland
The playoff-chasing Black Cats have won three of their last four Championship games while visitors Watford have scored just five goals in 11 away matches at top-half clubs.

Blowout
Manchester United
In-form Aston Villa pose a major threat when injury-hit United play their ninth game in 28 days including a 3-0 loss at Sevilla and 120 minutes against Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final.

Accumulator
Swansea 23-20, Sunderland 10-11, Villarreal 5-6, Atletico Madrid 4-6. £1 accumulator returns £12.55 with Hills.

Both teams to score
Games at Shrewsbury Evs, Mansfield 4-5, Athletic Bilbao Evs. £1 accumulator returns £7.20 with bet365.

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