After landing six of six selections last weekend and registering 8.5pts profit across the season with his naps, Michael Beardmore picks out 10 Boxing Day acca recommendations.
1.5pts AFC Wimbledon to beat Newport at 11/8 (Sky Bet)
Boxing Day’s standout price is the 11/8 on in-form AFC WIMBLEDON to win at home to Newport. The Dons are unbeaten in eight in Sky Bet League Two, winning five, including a 2-0 victory over runaway leaders Leyton Orient.
Newport are no mugs but sit six places lower in 18th and their past 10 league games have yielded a mediocre record of W3 D2 L5. The price on another defeat looks far too generous given the form the hosts are in.
FULHAM are the Premier League’s BTTS kings, with 12 of their 15 matches seeing goals at both ends, including six of seven away. The Cottagers’ top-flight games are averaging 3.33 goals per match this season.
Hosts CRYSTAL PALACE are slightly more reserved but five of their seven games at Selhurst Park have seen each keeper beaten so back BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE in this London derby.
A similar case can be made for the South Coast derby as SOUTHAMPTON host a BRIGHTON side whose games away from the Amex are averaging 3.57 goals per match.
Saints will be well up for their first home league game under new boss Nathan Jones. They’ve netted in all but one home game, Brighton all but one away, so BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE again appeals.
Oh, how Carlos Corberan has turned WEST BROMWICH ALBION around. This column was written before Wednesday’s Sky Bet Championship game at Coventry but prior to that the Baggies had won five from five under the Spaniard.
It’s the opposite for Bristol City, with one win in eight sucking them into a relegation battle. The Robins' home record since the start of October reads W1 D3 L5. The Baggies are huge at 11/8 or 13/10 in places.
MIDDLESBROUGH might sit 13th in the Championship but their underlying numbers suggest they should be top. They’ve begun to turn performances into wins under new boss Michael Carrick.
They won 4-1 at Wigan in October and should triumph against the same opposition at The Riverside with the 8/13 generally available a real acca booster.
If that’s still a bit short for you, then back BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE at Evens instead. Wigan might be in the bottom three but have scored in 18 of 23 Championship games, the same record as Boro. They tend to lose valiantly.
There should also be goals at the New York Stadium where ROTHERHAM tend to perform well in front of their own fans, scoring in 10 of their 11 Championship matches there this season.
But they have kept just two clean sheets in 14 games since Paul Warne’s departure and their Expected Goals Against figure of 1.77 per game is the division’s worst so back BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE as improving Stoke visit.
No League Two team’s games average more than the 2.71 per match NORTHAMPTON’s encounters are yielding and five of their past seven league games have seen both teams find the net.
Combine that with hosts MANSFIELD’s 70% BTTS ratio at home – plus an average of 3.1 goals per game at Field Mill – and you have reason to add this to your BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE coupon.
It wouldn’t be Boxing Day without a speculative festive flutter and the 3/1 available on HARTLEPOOL to win at Rochdale looks the perfect punt for those liking bigger prices.
This is 100% a coin flip between two of the fourth-tier’s worst sides but for some reason isn’t priced as such with the hosts heavy favourites. Yet, Dale have lost six in eight while Pools are showing signs of improvement, winning two of their last three.
Few Football League teams are in better form than STOCKPORT, who have won nine of their past 13 in all competitions, including cup wins over higher-league pair Shrewsbury and Charlton.
Visitors Crewe have scored just five goals in nine away games this term and should be out-gunned by a County side who have netted 17 goals in their past six matches.
Odds correct at 1900 GMT (21/12/22)
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