Sutton’s Acca: 24/1 EFL Bet – Saturday 15th October

EFL Pundit Gab Sutton is back with his best bets for the weekend’s action…

Gab Sutton's EFL Acca

Sutton's 24/1 EFL Acca

Gab is back with his five EFL picks on Saturday

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At 24/1 a £10 bet would return £250

October 15, 2022

3:00 pm GMT+1

Sheffield United to beat Blackpool – 8/15

Sheffield United have not had exactly the October they were hoping for, with Paul Heckingbottom’s charges taking one point from the nine available.

It may be for that reason that the Blades are available to back here, against 19th-placed Blackpool, at 1/2 rather than even shorter odds like 4/11 or 2/5, which they might have been for this type of fixture a couple of weeks ago.

The South Yorkshire outfit created chances, though, in the 3-1 loss at Stoke last time out, and while they didn’t quite have the defensive height they needed to handle balls into the box, that’s less likely to hinder them against Blackpool, who are more of a passing side under Michael Appleton.

The Tangerines defeated Watford 3-1 last time out, but that was just their second success in nine outings.

Fleetwood to beat Shrewsbury – 11/8

If Fleetwood were in an open League One season in which there was room for plucky underdogs to battle their way into the promotion shake-up, they could very easily be in the top six.

This year, like last, the competition is strong, and around 77 points will be required for a Play-Off berth, which would be a big ask for the Trawlermen, given the resources of the eight prime candidates.

At the same time, Scott Brown’s side could enjoy a productive campaign in the top half, representing significant progress after last season’s measly 40-point haul.

Brown is an animated figure on the sidelines, and he has the tactical flexibility to keep opponents guessing, as well as some innovative ideas that have got the best out of overlapping centre-back Shaun Rooney and all-action wing-back Harvey MacAdam.

Shrewsbury’s away form is a little rusty: they’ve only won two on the road, despite having only ever travelled to bottom-half opposition.

Ipswich to beat Lincoln – 1/3

Ipswich often appear on our Accas, and as much as us at FreeBets don’t like to repeat ourselves, it’s hard to ignore their reliability.

Kieran McKenna’s side are incredibly reliable: out of eight league encounters against sides below 7th, they have won every single time.

The Tractor Boys are almost the complete side in League One: defensive organisation, consistent midfield control, wing-back thrust and width, creative, goalscoring number 10s and threats from different areas.

The one thing they could be missing is a 20+-goal centre-forward like a 2000-01 Marcus Stewart or a 2014-15 Daryl Murphy.

Equally, so much of the role of their striker in McKenna’s 3-4-2-1 – often Freddie Ladapo – is to maximize the goalscoring potential of the two number 10s, rather than their own.

Lincoln, sitting in 18th, are about where most expected them to be this season, and while they’ve recorded wins over Oxford, Derby and Bristol Rovers, it’s just one point from three games for Mark Kennedy’s side against sides 7th and above.

Barrow to win at Rochdale – 7/4

Jim Bentley has had the desired impact as Rochdale manager, overseeing 1-0 away victories at Colchester and Newport.

Spirit and morale in the Dale camp is higher than it was before the former long-serving Morecambe boss took on another Lancastrian firefighting mission, but his side are still in the relegation zone.

Similarly, Barrow have slid a few places after three consecutive defeats, but they have come against Leyton Orient, Tranmere and Mansfield – that could conceivably be League Two’s top three come the end of the season.

From that perspective, the traders shouldn’t have priced this match quite as evenly as they have, even though the hosts have fared better in terms of very recent form.

Josh Gordon has seven goals for the Bluebirds and has pressed with vigour from the front: the former Walsall forward could be a nuisance for Rochdale’s rear-guard.

Stockport to beat Grimsby – 10/11

Stockport are hoping last week’s 1-0 victory at Bradford is the result that kickstarts their season.

Most teams coming up from the National League would be content with being 16th, where County are, but Dave Challinor’s side invested heavily in proven performers like Fraser Horsfall and Callum Camps, which made them favourites for back-to-back titles.

There is, therefore, an expectation on Stockport to put a run together and enter promotion contention, and there is reason to think with more performances like the one last week, they can live up to that.

The Hatters were dominant in the first half at Valley Parade and capitalized thanks to Paddy Madden’s strike, then dug in for the second half.

With Calum MacDonald looking a steady recruit at left-back, Ryan Croasdale covering every blade of grass from his midfield role and Kyle Wootton leading the line superbly, County may have a formula to get closer to where they want to be.

There is a little bit less pressure for Grimsby - they are enjoying a good season so far thanks to Paul Hurst’s organisational nous, but look more likely to middle out in midtable than push the top spots.

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