The third international break of the season means no Premier League games this weekend and a reduced slate of EFL fixtures. There are still some spicy looking games, though, to get our teeth stuck into.
There is nothing like an EFL acca to get the juices flowing, so here is our latest one.
Saturday, November 16
Cambridge vs Barnsley
It has been a horrible start to the season for Cambridge which was compounded by a 6-1 thrashing in their derby game against Peterborough last week. Ironically, before that drubbing, things were starting to pick up as the side were on a five game winning streak before that brutal return to reality. Cambridge currently sit third from bottom of the table and manager Gary Monk has come in for a lot of criticism this season. He will hope that result last week was a blip and they can get back on track on Saturday.
Barnsley travel South in very good form, unbeaten in their last four and picking up an excellent victory in a Yorkshire derby against Rotherham last week. After a relatively slow start manager Darrell Clarke has got the Tykes playing some good stuff. It is very much a team effort with no one player relied upon, the goals are spread out nicely across the team and they have threats everywhere. Barnsley are only a point off the automatic promotion places and will see this is a great opportunity to pick up another three points.
I think Cambridge will want to show a reaction from last week, but still think Barnsley will have too much.
Barnsley to win outright @ 9/10
Bromley vs Carlisle
Bromley are enjoying their first ever campaign in the English Football League, having been promoted via the playoffs from the National League last season. They have also shown so far they can certainly compete at this level, sitting in 19th place, four points above the relegation zone. Although they will have higher ambitions than mere survival, stabilising at this level should be seen as success for Bromley this year, and they are on course for that so far. Striker Michael Cheek has adapted to the level well, scoring 7 goals so far and proving a constant threat for defences.
The expectation for Carlisle was a lot different this season, and so far they have failed massively to live up their billing as one of the promotion favourites. After relegation from league 1 last year and new owners investing a lot of money into the playing squad, much was expected of the Cumbrians. Safe to say it’s been a disaster so far, previous manager Paul Simpson was sacked and replaced with Mike Williamson, a highly rated coach who joined from MK Dons. So far it has been underwhelming, but there are small shoots of recovery and they did pick up a late win last week which could give them a jump-start.
I think that late win for Carlisle last week was huge and I can see them building on that here.
Carlisle to win outright @ 5/2
Bristol Rovers vs Crawley
It has been a very mixed bag for Bristol Rovers so far this season, with the Gas currently sitting in mid table and looking like they are in real need of a spark to get their season going. There was a lot of excitement in the summer when they brought in the likes of Promise Omochere and Shaq Forde, exciting, dynamic attackers. Unfortunately for manager Matt Taylor it simply hasn’t clicked yet and fans are becoming frustrated. The talent is there, but they need to start showing it.
Crawley are new to this level, achieving an unlikely promotion from league 2 at Wembley back in May and they have struggled with the step up. Losing manager Scott Lindsey to MK Dons hasn’t helped matters, and new manager Rob Elliot, a well regarded young coach, is still getting to grips with his new team. Crawley currently sit forth from bottom and in the relegation zone, and you fear a season of struggle is ahead.
I am not entirely confident in them, but think Bristol Rovers can scrape a win at home here.
Bristol Rovers to win outright @ 10/11
MK Dons vs Cheltenham
Take out the defeat to Wimbledon in the Cup, the Dons are firing and surging up the league table. Since taking well respected manager Scott Lindsey from Crawley, he has had the desired impact, taking MK from the lower reaches of the table up into the playoffs. It should come as no surprise, MK Dons have one of the biggest budgets in the league and players in the squad that could easily play at a higher level. Automatic promotion is very much in everybody’s sights at Stadium MK.
The pressure on Cheltenham manager Michael Flynn has eased in recent weeks after a turnaround in results. There was a lot of pressure on him last month but the team have come out fighting and picked up some really impressive results recently, none more so than the 3-1 F.A cup win at league 1 Rotherham. Although they are 16th in the table, they are only six points off the playoffs. They are one of a number of clubs who will think getting into the top 7 is still realistic.
MK Dons are on a roll and I think that will continue.
MK Dons to win outright @ 8/11
EFL Acca
It really is ‘on the day’ in the EFL. Favourites are beaten regularly and teams who look like they can’t buy a win suddenly come up trumps and go on a run. It makes the job of predicting the results that much harder but it also adds excitement and unpredictability, which is great for the product!
If you want to work out the payout for your own acca, you can use our free accumulator odds calculator.
