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It’s the start of a brand new football season, with a full programme of Championship, League One and League Two matches taking place this weekend. The bulk of the action is on Saturday and we’ve put together a Football League accumulator to kick things off.
We would recommend betting small stakes for the first few weeks of the season, especially with no real form available. An accumulator is an ideal way of having an interest across several different games without having to risk a large stake to earn a decent return.
There are some betting sites who might even provide an accumulator bonus if you get your EFL predictions correct, while there might also be the opportunity to secure Acca Insurance which allows punters to get their stake back if one leg lets them down.
Our Saturday accumulator includes the following picks, with all of the matches kicking off at 3pm:
- Watford v Queens Park Rangers
- Plymouth Argyle v Huddersfield Town
- Derby County v Wigan Athletic
- Crawley Town v Bradford City
Leg 1: Watford to beat Queens Park Rangers
This is more a case of opposing QPR given the way in which they finished the previous season. Despite the popular Gareth Ainsworth returning to Loftus Road, the Hoops nearly headed out of the division when finishing 20th with a modest return of 50 points.
Watford finished much higher up the table despite a predictably tumultuous campaign and it’s now the job of Valerien Ismael to try and remain in place for longer than a handful of months. Having performed well with Barnsley at this level, perhaps he can steer the Hornets to a top-half finish.
Tom Ince, Jake Livermore and Jamal Lewis are some of the summer captures at Vicarage Road and they’re up against opponents who have lost key players Seny Dieng and Rob Dickie to rival Championship clubs.
Leg 2: Plymouth Argyle to beat Huddersfield Town
We’re a sucker for a newly-promoted team who are playing their first match at home and Plymouth Argyle most certainly fit the bill on Saturday. The Pilgrims have to be included in our Championship predictions considering that the Devon side won 20 of their 23 matches at Home Park last term.
While this was in League One, this home form enabled Plymouth to finish above an incredible Ipswich Town side, with Stephen Schumacher’s side scoring 44 goals and conceding just 16 times. There has been some shrewd recruitment this summer in the form of Morgan Whittaker and Bali Mumba who arrive from Swansea and Norwich respectively.
This looks like an ideal fixture to be facing a Huddersfield Town side who were rejuvenated by the arrival of Neil Warnock last season. The veteran manager remains in charge of the Terriers, although finances are tight and there haven’t been many new faces arriving at the club, with 13 defeats being suffered on the road last time out.
Leg 3: Derby County to beat Wigan Athletic
Derby are the pre-season favourites to win League One, according to football betting sites, and Paul Warne is likely to steer the Rams to an opening day victory against opponents who start the season with an eight-point deduction.
The Midlands side missed out on the play-offs last term but Warne has reshaped the squad and his previous achievements at Rotherham suggests that promotion could be on the cards.
Despite David McGoldrick dropping down a division to join Notts County, Sonny Bradley, Kane Wilson and Curtis Nelson all look capable players and they’ll face opponents who have waved goodbye to Max Power, Jamie Jones and Will Keane.
Leg 4: Bradford City to beat Crawley Town
Crawley Town just about survived relegation last season and the Red Devils are among our League Two predictions to be relegated.
Scott Lindsey was able to steady the ship when arriving in January, although the manager has had to plumb the depths of the non-league divisions in a bid to unearth some potential gems.
It could end up being a risky policy and Bradford’s squad looks to be much stronger, with Andy Cook once again leading the line after netting 28 goals last season. Tyler Smith might end up forming a lethal partnership after arriving from Hull, while Alex Pattison should add quality in midfield.
The Bantams are trading at around the even money mark which implies a 50 per cent probability of success. However, the Yorkshire outfit won 11 times on the road last term and there’s little doubt that they’ll aim to get on the front foot in what is perceived to be a favourable opening fixture.
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Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
