Mark Langdon's weekend football tips, best bets and accas

Free football tips, bets and analysis.

Best bets

Watford +0.25
1pt 103-100 bet365
Espanyol
1pt Evs general
Verona
1pt 11-10 general
Atletico Madrid & Inter double
1pt 9-10 general

Watford v Leicester

BT Sport 1, 12.30pm Saturday

The three-month wait for a chunky weekend coupon of elite leagues is finally over and fans can now look forward to almost a solid year of wall-to-wall football that runs through to the end of next summer's European Championship.

This domestic season is packed until the end of July and August sees a potentially brilliant Champions League and Europa League finals knockout tournament. September should see the start of next term, running through to the end of May with the Champions League final before Turkey take on Italy at the start of the rearranged Euros in Rome on June 11.

Let's hope the cash-strapped EFL strugglers can survive until supporters are allowed to return to stadiums in anything like normal numbers but for now the new normal is going to be a relentless bombardment of top-level action pumped into our homes.

Only those with their heads buried in the sand like an ostrich for much of 2020 will have failed to notice the improvement of Watford under the stewardship of straight-talking Nigel Pearson and he can continue to guide the Hornets in the right direction against his former club Leicester.

Manchester United, Wolves and, most astonishingly of the lot, Liverpool have all been slayed at Vicarage Road since Pearson arrived and only a Troy Deeney missed penalty denied them maximum points in a 0-0 draw with Tottenham.

For a side who opened with one victory in 17 it has been a superb effort to get out of the relegation zone and Pearson's assistant, another former Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare, insists the team is ready even though Deeney was among those who initially was unsure whether it was safe to return to training.

Deeney featured in last week's friendly win over Brentford and is fit, much like those who had struggled with injuries earlier in the term such as Danny Welbeck and club-record signing Ismaila Sarr.

Watford's win percentage with Sarr rises to 43 per cent compared to ten per cent in the 20 games he has failed to start and he was becoming increasingly influential before the season stopped, as he proved with a brace to dish out a first league loss to Liverpool.

Whether home advantage remains the same is open to debate after a drop in wins in the Bundesliga, although if you think about it logically why would any pattern from a league in Germany be seen as influential in Premier League results? Those unusual results have not been replicated in the second division either so the jury is out.

Third-placed Leicester are having a brilliant season, but four wins in 13 league matches suggests an Asian handicap bet on Watford which results in a profit should the game be drawn and a more significant success should the Hornets take victory.

Espanyol v Levante

La Liga TV, 1pm Saturday

Espanyol are another side eyeing a great escape and they can land three massive points at home to mid-table Levante.

Backed by Chinese owners, Espanyol spent a relative fortune in January to stay up and it seems to be working.

They have drawn with Barcelona, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid in 2020, beaten Villarreal and returned to action with a 2-0 success over Alaves, followed by a gritty goalless draw at Getafe on Tuesday.

That stalemate was all the better considering they played 74 minutes with ten men and without the injured Raul de Tomas, who is struggling with a knee injury.

The absence of RDT again would be a blow but Levante are the worst side in Spain according to expected goal figures.

Verona v Cagliari

Premier 2, 8.45pm Saturday

Those who don't believe in xG were getting giddy when Cagliari were riding high in Serie A earlier this term, but the numbers always suggested regression was coming.

Four points from the last 33 available saw coach Rolando Maran sacked and replacement Walter Zenga could be in for a disappointing belated dugout debut away to an attractive Verona outfit.

Zenga must also do without his best player Radja Nainggolan and top goalscorer Joao Pedro.

Atletico Madrid v Valladolid

La Liga TV, 9pm Saturday

Finish the frenzied return off with a home double across the weekend on Atletico Madrid and Inter to both land three points.

Atletico were full of aggression and attacking intent when pumping Osasuna 5-0 on Wednesday and their need for points is obvious given the tightness of the top-four race in La Liga.

Inter v Sampdoria

Premier 1, 8.45pm Sunday

Inter played well against Napoli on Saturday and were unlucky to go out of the cup at the semi-final stage to the eventual winners.

Antonio Conte's men could come on for the run too and are likely to be sharper than a Sampdoria side who should stay in Serie A, but mainly because of the ineptitude of others.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Chelsea 4-7
Frank Lampard's side look fair enough at 4-7. Despite Villa's clean sheet against Sheffield United on Wednesday they remain a side who are too open when it comes to tackling the big boys.

Blowout
Leicester 6-5
Maybe the break has done Leicester some good but the Foxes were not exactly flying before that with away defeats to Burnley and Norwich among the iffy results.

Accumulator
Monchengladbach 3-10, Atletico Madrid 3-8, Chelsea 11-20, Inter 4-11. £1 accumulator returns £3.78 with Betway.

Both teams to score
Games at Cologne 4-9, QPR 8-13, Bournemouth 4-5. £1 treble returns bet365.

Thought for the week

In these pages three months ago I dismissed the idea of football behind closed doors and even as we headed for a presumption of a short-term lockdown I was making plans for Easter a few weeks later.

That was as far off as my prediction that David Luiz would be a good signing for Arsenal, and his performance against Manchester City on Wednesday was no real surprise given those who watched the highlights reel against Brentford last week.

Much more of a surprise has been the fact I don't hate the fake crowd noise used by TV companies. I genuinely wouldn't have taken 100-1 about me saying that even a few weeks ago and Sky's offering in midweek clearly needs work.

However, in Germany I thought it enhanced the experience of behind closed doors football and feels pretty authentic. This football is better than no football.

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