Mark Langdon's free weekend football tips and accumulators

Free football tips, bets, analysis and weekend accumulators.

Best bets

Portsmouth
1pt 21-20 Coral, Ladbrokes
Back this tip with Coral
Oxford
1pt 3-4 general
Back this tip with bet365
Bolton
1pt 11-8 Coral
Back this tip with Coral
Plymouth draw no bet
1pt Evs Betfred, Hills
Back this tip with William Hill
Eoin Doyle to score two or more in Grimsby v Swindon
1pt 13-2 Hills, Sky Bet
Back this tip with William HIll

Portsmouth v Peterborough

3pm Saturday

Portsmouth's slow start has given them plenty to do in Sky Bet League One but they are on the up and can continue to move in the right direction by beating Peterborough at Fratton Park.

This is a high-class clash with tenth-placed Pompey hosting third-placed Peterborough and Kenny Jackett's side look overpriced at odds-against.

Portsmouth are unbeaten in nine games with seven wins during that spell and the two draws should have been victories too.

They dominated Bristol Rovers and Oxford, conceding injury-time equalisers in both, but they have made steady progress in the league as well as progressing in two cup competitions.

This is a huge month for Pompey with Ipswich and Wycombe to come to Fratton before the new year and they should put down a marker against a visiting Posh outfit who may lack balance.

Peterborough are blessed with excellent attacking options, although they have already lost away to Oxford, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Shrewsbury and Doncaster.

The front three of Ivan Toney, Mo Eisa and Marcus Maddison are among the most dangerous in the league and that makes it easier for them to beat the likes of recent soft opponents Stevenage, Cambridge and Dover in various cup competitions.

Darren Ferguson's outfit are earning a reputation as flat-track bullies and this is one of the toughest tests in League One.

Oxford v Shrewsbury

3pm Saturday

September was the last time Oxford lost in the league and this should be a comfortable victory for them at home to Shrewsbury.

The visitors have already lost to highflying pair Wycombe and Ipswich without scoring this season and this is a similar kind of assignment.

Bolton v AFC Wimbledon

3pm Saturday

Motivation should not be a problem for Bolton boss Keith Hill as the Trotters finally get the opportunity to put right their 7-1 humiliation at Accrington a fortnight ago.

The final result was totally unacceptable, but Bolton were winning before Josh Earl's early red card and the subsequent penalty converted by Colby Bishop turned the game on its head.

Despite the battering, Bolton are nothing like the struggling side who started the season.

They went to Accy on a three-match league winning sequence against Bristol Rovers, Fleetwood and MK Dons and have picked up plenty of decent operators at this level.

Daryl Murphy has notched in his last four league outings and can help Bolton overcome AFC Wimbledon.

The Wombles have lost every away league match this season bar a victory over a Southend side who are so bad it barely counts.

Cambridge v Plymouth

3pm Saturday

Plymouth have recovered well from their demolition derby defeat at Exeter and should not be considered outsiders at Cambridge.

Ryan Lowe's men picked up excellent league successes over Forest Green and Bradford before Sunday's feisty 1-1 draw at League One outfit Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup.

Argyle just need to add the finishing touch to the pretty approach play of a technically gifted midfield of Danny Mayor, Joe Edwards and Antoni Sarcevic. There is depth to the attack with George Cooper, Ryan Taylor, Dom Telford, Billy Clarke and Zak Rudden all on the bench for last week's trip to Bristol.

Cambridge have won only two of their last ten league matches and have failed to register an attempt on target in their last couple of outings - a 0-0 draw at Carlisle and 1-0 loss at Exeter.

Grimsby v Swindon

3pm Saturday

One team who possess much more firepower are Swindon and the rampant Robins could be among the goals once more at Grimsby.

Star striker Eoin Doyle has taken defences apart - he has 17 goals, ten more than any other League Two player.

Doyle could be in for more delight and is worth backing to score at least two goals at juicy odds.

He has bagged at least a brace in a quarter of his 20 appearances this season, including in each of his last two away matches.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Oxford 3-4
Karl Robinson had his doubters when he was appointed Oxford manager but they look the real deal, creating plenty of chances and scoring goals. They should be too strong for mid-table visitors Shrewsbury.

Blowout
Cardiff 3-4
The Bluebirds allowed 32 shots against them in last week's win at Nottingham Forest which should be a concern and Barnsley are dangerous. The market rates them better than their league position.

Accumulator
Leeds 4-7, Leipzig 47-100, Liverpool 47-100, Oxford 3-4. £1 accumulator returns £5.94 with Hills.

Both teams to score
Games at Sheffield Wednesday 13-15, Lazio 9-13,
Sassuolo 11-18. £1 treble returns £5.09 with RedZone.

Thought for the week

A report this week suggested any club who appointed Mauricio Pochettino would still have to pay Tottenham compensation, believed to be in the region of £12.5 million, to appoint the out-of-work Argentinian as part of the deal which saw him leave Spurs.

That could be seen as a stumbling block for some clubs, but that's madness given those Premier League outfits would sometimes pay that kind of figure for a reserve goalkeeper.

Either managers are nowhere near as important figures as the general public would believe or football owners grossly under-value them.

Talking of undervaluing - anyone would think Lionel Richie had been voted as the Ballon d'Or winner earlier this week rather than Lionel Messi given the reaction to the Barcelona superstar edging out Virgil van Dijk.

The most amazing aspect of it was just how many people from the UK had a view on Messi's season given broadcasters Eleven Sports had to give up the La Liga rights due to a lack of interest.

Maybe everyone was watching dodgy streams, or maybe he was being judged on one poor game in the Champions League semis.

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