Dan Childs: free football tips and verdicts for Saturday's EFL games

Free football tips, bets and analysis for Saturday's EFL games.

When to bet

Kick-offs 3pm Saturday

Best bets

Brentford -1 on Asian handicap
2pts 9-10 bet365
Back this tip with bet365Birmingham or draw double chance
2pts 5-6Hills
Back this tip with William Hill
Fleetwood
3pts 10-11 bet365
Wycombe
2pts 6-5 Coral
Back this tip with Coral

Verdicts

Brentford v Huddersfield

Few teams are finding consistency in a congested Sky Bet Championship promotion race but 12th-placed Brentford have recorded three successive victories and look worthy odds-on favourites to defeat Huddersfield at Griffin Park.

It is incredibly tight in the top half with just six points covering the top 12 teams and there is a mathematical possibility of Brentford finishing the weekend inside the playoff positions.

Brentford regularly start seasons slowly because they often have to contend with losing key players in the transfer window.

This summer was no different with goalkeeper Daniel Bentley, centre-back Ezri Konsa, midfielder Romaine Sawyers and striker Neal Maupay, their top scorer from last season, moving on to new challenges with Bristol City, Aston Villa, West Brom and Brighton.

But Brentford usually get their recruitment right and there have been positive signs this season with goalkeeper David Raya, centre-back Pontus Jansson and midfielders Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen slotting seamlessly into the team.

There has been a steady improvement and Brentford looked a high-quality outfit when winning 3-1 away to fellow highflyers QPR on Monday.

Top scorer Ollie Watkins netted twice against QPR, taking his tally to ten, and could be on the radar of a few top-flight teams in January.

Said Benrahma is the other class act in the Bees' attack and, after a slow start to the season, he is coming to the boil with a goal in each of the last two games.

With Watkins and Benrahma reaching peak performance, Brentford will be a handful for any second-tier team and should bring an end to Huddersfield's six-match unbeaten sequence.

Huddersfield have showed encouraging signs under their new manager Danny Cowley, who has instilled added belief and greater defensive organisation.

But Cowley's side are only one point above the drop zone and the match at Brentford may serve as a reality check.

Cardiff v Birmingham

There was uncertainty among Birmingham fans this summer but caretaker-manager Pep Clotet has steered the club to 11th and can keep them among the promotion contenders by picking up at least a point at Cardiff.

Birmingham had a tough pre-season as they adapted to the departure of manager Garry Monk, top scorer Che Adams and captain Michael Morrison.

But any concerns over a lack of ambition were assuaged when Birmingham shelled out a reported £6.3 million for Croatian international midfielder Ivan Sunjic.

The money appears to have been well spent with Sunjic emerging as a key player in an improving side.

Clotet's change in playing style to a more possession-based approach seems to be working and his bold team selections, which have included regular starts for 16-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham, are paying off.

Birmingham have won three of their last four games and the exception, a narrow 1-0 loss at Leeds, was a hugely encouraging performance.

With luck on the injury front the playoffs could be in range and they should not be fearful of Cardiff, who are struggling to shake off a relegation hangover.

The Bluebirds had hoped to challenge for automatic promotion but have won just four of their 14 league games and are winless in four following last Sunday's 1-0 loss at Swansea.

Like most Neil Warnock sides they are a physical, uncompromising bunch, but the lack of quality has been obvious and they look poor-value favourites this week.

Bolton v Fleetwood

Fleetwood have stayed inside the Sky Bet League One playoff places for the last eight weeks and have a great chance to enhance their promotion credentials when facing injury-ravaged Bolton.

Joey Barton's fourth-placed side are only four points behind leaders Ipswich and have a strong enough squad to maintain their challenge.
They look particularly strong up front with Paddy Madden (ten goals in 14 league games) and Ched Evans (four in ten) competing for places.

Their offensive quality should be too much for the Trotters, who have won just one of their 12 league fixtures.

Bolton no longer operate with a team of kids, but they are stretched this weekend due to a mounting injury list.

Nine injured players (Ben Alnwick, Joe Bunney, Liam Bridcutt, Josh Earl, Jack Hobbs, Jake Wright, Harry Brockbank, Will Buckley and Liam Edwards) were unavailable for Tuesday's 3-1 success at home to Manchester City in the EFL Trophy and they have been joined by midfielder Ali Crawford, who suffered a knee injury which threatens to rule him out for several months.

Crawford has been a key player and his loss makes a difficult fixture even tougher.

Wycombe v Shrewsbury

Second-placed Wycombe have attracted a lot of attention with their superb start to the Sky Bet League One season but they do not seem to have gained the full respect of the markets and are tasty odds-against favourites to see off mid-table Shrewsbury in Buckinghamshire.

Gareth Ainsworth's side were deserving 1-0 winners at Rotherham last Saturday and have a great chance to follow up against the Shrews, who are the lowest scorers among the top 19 teams.