Mark Langdon's weekend EFL tips and football betting accumulators

3pm Saturday

Rochdale v Shrewsbury

Rochdale legend Keith Hill was sacked as their manager earlier this week and caretaker coach Brian Barry-Murphy may not be able to turn the tide in a crunch Sky Bet League One relegation clash against Shrewsbury at Spotland.

Dale, 22nd and five points from safety, are desperate for a win and pulled the plug on Hill's second spell in charge just before he could clock up 350 career matches in charge.

Ten defeats in 12 games did for Hill, with Rochdale conceding a whopping 29 shots on target in their last three matches.

There's no great shame in going down 2-0 at league leaders Luton, but losing 4-3 at home to AFC Wimbledon and 5-1 at Plymouth suggests Rochdale are heading back to the fourth division.

Rochdale need to start reeling in sides such as 17th-placed Shrewsbury, who have gone unbeaten in five games to pull away from trouble under Sam Ricketts.

Those fixtures include wins over Peterborough and Doncaster plus creditable draws against Bristol Rovers and Burton before last week's 0-0 draw with Wimbledon.

With hindsight Ricketts may have regretted making changes to his team from the win over Donny, including dropping top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie to the bench as the manager looked to freshen up the starting 11.

Shrews dominated the game, winning the shot count 12-1 and 6-0 in efforts on target. They look to be heading in the right direction after a busy January of squad rebuilding.

Recommendation
Shrewsbury draw no bet
1pt 4-5 bet365, Betfred

Blackpool v Southend

It could be a case of wrong place, wrong time for Southend who head to their fellow seasiders Blackpool just as the Tangerines fans are returning to Bloomfield Road to support the club.

There will be a party atmosphere inside the ground with the boycott over and Tuesday's deserved 2-1 victory at Accrington showed just how much it means in the local area with wild scenes of celebration following the late winner.

Southend were stuffed 3-0 by ten-man Barnsley at home last week and their injury-ravaged squad continue to struggle. Even as players return they are not fully-fit and Chris Powell must wish the season could just end now.

A club report earlier this week suggested they were the fifth-highest spenders in terms of wages in League One, but around £20,000 a week's worth of talent has been in the treatment room at any given time between December and March.

This game is potentially more important for Blackpool too in terms of what is at stake as the club may yet be hit with a 12-point deduction which would leave them just two clear of the relegation zone.

Recommendation
Blackpool
1pt 6-5 Coral, 188Bet

Stevenage v Bury

It is worth taking into consideration the words of Cheltenham boss Michael Duff after his side battled hard for a 1-1 draw against Bury in League Two on Tuesday.

"They are a very good team, the best team in the league," said Duff.

"Bury move it around really well and have good rotations, with good players. Danny Mayor shouldn't be playing at this level."

The second-placed Shakers are highest-scoring EFL club in all competitions, while the draw was a slight setback in midweek, boss Ryan Lowe was happy to consider it as another point towards the goal of automatic promotion.

Bury, unbeaten in the league since Boxing Day, possess class acts such as Mayor and Jay O'Shea, while sharpshooter Nicky Maynard will presumably return to the starting 11 after dropping down to the bench on Tuesday.

Good footballing sides Mansfield and Forest Green have been able to overcome Stevenage's physicality to record wins at Broadhall Way and Bury should be next.

Ilias Chair is a clever player in the Stevenage team, scoring two beauties in the recent draw at Lincoln, but they lack craft otherwise.

Stevenage showed fighting spirit to nick an injury-time leveller at Oldham last week and Dino Maamria will always make sure his team are up for the fight, so Bury must deal with that threat.

However, if the Shakers can match Stevenage's effort there is more than enough class to land the odds.

Recommendation
Bury
1pt 10-11 Sky Bet

Weekend football accumulators

Banker
Monaco 13-19
Leonardo Jardim is getting a tune out of Monaco on his return to the club and they should overcome shot-shy Bordeaux, who have failed to score on their last four league away trips.

Blowout
Chelsea 8-15
This is a tricky one for Chelsea after a Thursday's Europa League tie. Wolves, who won the reverse fixture, have triumphed at Spurs and drawn away to Manchester United and Arsenal this season.

Accumulator
Sunderland 21-20, Bury 13-15, Monaco 4-6, Leverkusen 7-18 RedZone

Both teams to score
Games at Birmingham 13-17, Arsenal 8-15, Fiorentina 19-29 188Bet

Thought for the week

Whatever you think of the decision to award Manchester United their penalty for handball against Presnel Kimpembe, it was quite right to give the spot-kick based on the directives issued by Uefa's head referee honcho Roberto Rosetti.

The Italian said before the Champions League knockout stage started: "When the arm is totally out of the body above the shoulder it should be penalised. If the defender is making the body bigger in order to block the ball it is not fair.

"It is different if the defender is challenging or playing the ball and it rebounds but if he is looking to block a cross or a shot on goal and the player is trying to spread his body then it is handball."

The awarding of a penalty and around a 75 per cent success rate to turn that into a goal is such a huge decision given the sport is low-scoring, so expect players to exploit this rule the longer VAR is involved.

Teams will go looking to hit the arm of a defender - you'd be stupid not to given the potential rewards.

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