Mark Langdon's weekend tips & football accas | EFL and Bundesliga

Free football tips, bets and analysis.

Best bets

Wigan
1pt 4-5 Betfred
Barnsley
1pt 29-20 Betfred
Coventry
1pt 19-10 general
Bayer Leverkusen -0.75 on Asian handicap
1pt 9-10 bet365

Wigan v Luton

3pm Saturday

The race to avoid relegation in the Sky Bet Championship will be one of the most fascinating features of the remaining ten game weeks in the EFL and this weekend looks pivotal.

There are eight points between rock-bottom Luton and Huddersfield in 17th and by Sunday the picture should be at least a little clearer.

Stoke, in 21st, welcome free-falling 18th-placed Hull to the bet365 Stadium, 22nd-placed Middlesbrough travel to 20th-placed Charlton and 19th-placed Wigan host Luton.

The Latics are looking lively in their bid to escape the bottom three and can take a leap towards safety by pushing Luton closer to a return to League One.

Wigan have been impressive in 2020, winning six of their 11 matches, including the last three to nil against Millwall, Reading and West Brom.

Last week's success at the Hawthorns was fully deserved and means Wigan have won away to Leeds and West Brom during this hot spell with Paul Cook's decision to bring in centre-back Leon Balogun making a major difference to the defence.

Balogun, a Nigerian international with plenty of experience in the Bundesliga, struggled for playing time at Brighton but has steadied Wigan with fans nicknaming him Virgil van Balogun and Baldini.

Sam Morsy dictates play in midfield and summer signing Kiefer Moore has hit a purple patch too.

Luton have also suddenly decided the great escape is on for them, but most of their results come at Kenilworth Road. They have lost 15 of their 18 Championship road trips this season.

Barnsley v Cardiff

3pm Saturday

A win for Barnsley in 23rd would only increase the anxiety of those hovering above the bottom three and they can drag others into the mix by beating Cardiff.

Barnsley have been seen by the betting markets as better than the league table suggests for some time and the three wins to nil against Fulham, Middlesbrough and Hull were a major fillip before they lost 2-0 at Reading last week.

The Tykes had 62 per cent possession at Reading and won the shot count 23-7 and had 12 shots inside the box compared to three for the hosts, which suggests the result was possibly harsh, although the fact Barnsley were chasing the match will have influenced those numbers.

Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber believes his team were drained but a free week gives them a chance to breathe fresh life into their season.

Cardiff have taken two points from their last four matches and have looked like a mid-table team for most of the season.

Ipswich v Coventry

3pm Saturday

The possible appointment of reported target Neil Warnock could change the dynamics of this fixture for Ipswich, but even if the Suffolk side decide to get rid of Paul Lambert there are still reasons for wanting to side with Coventry at Portman Road.

Ipswich have lost six of their last eight matches and their only home success against a top-half team came against 12th-placed Burton, which does not bode well for the visit of the League One leaders.

Cov have lost one of their last 21 league games, a remarkable achievement considering they are using St Andrew's as a home base, and they are playing at a much higher level than Ipswich.

Home advantage may not even be worth that much for Ipswich with the fans calling for owner Marcus Evans to quit and they were pretty toothless in Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Fleetwood.

Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt

2.30pm Saturday

Consistency has rarely been Bayer Leverkusen's strength but they are looking in superb shape and should be able to beat Eintracht Frankfurt before heading into the Europa League clash with Rangers.

Ten wins in 12 for Leverkusen is an excellent return, whose other matches in that spell were still strong performances.

They outplayed Leipzig away in a 1-1 draw last week (6-2 in shots on target with 63 per cent possession) and Leverkusen also lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim in a match that saw them record 11 shots on target.

Frankfurt have not kept a domestic away clean sheet and are likely to struggle defensively against the full might of Leverkusen's attack.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Bayer Leverkusen 4-6
Leverkusen have won all of their last six home games, including putting four past Borussia Dortmund, and look trustworthy favourites against a defensively shaky Eintracht Frankfurt.

Blowout
Colchester 13-10
One wonders what kind of Christmas party Colchester had but since Boxing Day they have won only four of 14 matches and just one of six on the road, so it's unlikely to be easy at improving Carlisle.

Accumulator
Leverkusen 4-6, Wigan 31-40, Stoke 8-13, Villarreal 3-4. £1 accumulator returns £7.36 with Betway.

Both teams to score
Games at MK Dons 4-5, Chelsea 7-10, Lille 19-20. £1 treble returns £4.97 with bet365.

Thought for the week

Rangers' domestic form has gone to pot since the winter break in Scotland with their latest defeat to then bottom side Hamilton leaving them 13 points adrift of Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership. They were also knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup by Hearts, who are last in the table now.

Manager Steven Gerrard has gone from hero to zero despite their run to the Europa League last 16 and he is at a loss to explain the horrendous sequence of results.

"Myself and my staff are flat because we are doing everything we can," said Gerrard. "We are trying to change formations and personnel, doing different things in training to try to lift them."

Gerrard's tinkering is often what is called for by supporters and pundits during a run like this as they demand a plan B or C, but for the best managers, plan B is often to make sure that plan A works.

It could be that in the panic Gerrard is making the team worse.

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