Sutton’s Acca: 25/1 EFL Bet – Saturday 5th November

Gab Sutton's EFL Acca

Sutton's 25/1 EFL Acca

Gab is back with his five EFL picks on Saturday

At 25/1 a £10 bet would return £260

November 05, 2022

3:00 pm GMT+1

Blackburn to beat Huddersfield – 4/5

Blackburn need a reaction to their midweek 1-0 loss at Coventry.

With Sam Gallagher not expected to return to the starting line-up following a foot injury that saw him miss out in the Midlands, Jon Dahl Tomasson has got to find a system that will allow his side to create chances in the physical forward’s absence.

George Hirst did well at Portsmouth in League One but has so far flattered to deceive at this level, while Jack Vale has limited professional experience, so the best temporary option could be to deploy a highly fluid attacking quartet.

Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics could rotate, interchange and swap false nine duties, with Ben Brereton Diaz then making runs from the left into goalscoring areas and Adam Wharton joining the final third equation too.

If Tomasson can find the right system, Rovers are capable of unpicking Huddersfield, who go into this game five points adrift at the bottom of the table after a 2-0 loss to Sunderland in midweek.

Norwich to win at Rotherham – 10/11

Norwich drew 0-0 with QPR in midweek and could take some encouragement from that game, especially the first 20 minutes.

They started to establish some patterns of play in that early period, which had been the main criticism of Dean Smith’s side for much of the season and created two opportunities for Gabriel Sara, thanks to some good combination play between Todd Cantwell and Sam McCallum.

The Canaries finished the game strongly, too, and while they had a dip leading up to and after half-time, there are some positives to take.

City look slightly more balanced now they have a natural left-back in the side, while Isaac Hayden has brought some physicality and bite in midfield, while Smith still has Marcelino Nunez – arguably the best midfielder in the Championship – to potentially bring into his XI.

That depth should be enough for Norwich to get the win they need at Rotherham, who finished Paul Warne’s tenure with just one defeat in nine Championship games, but life has since been difficult for his successor.

It’s eight points from Matt Taylor’s 10 games in charge, after the 10-man Millers’ timewasting at Burnley in midweek didn’t quite earn them the points they wanted, conceding twice in injury time including a crushing 100th-minute strike.

Sunderland to beat Cardiff – 23/20

Sunderland returned to the top half of the Championship with a 2-0 victory at Huddersfield last time out, thanks to goals from Alex Pritchard and Amad Diallo.

It was a poor first half from the Black Cats, but Ellis Simms, back from injury, made a huge difference after coming on at the interval.

The former Blackpool forward occupies defenders, bringing the physicality to complement Diallo’s pace and skill, and is a fantastic outlet who can hold onto the ball in the final third and bring others into the game.

Simms will surely come into the XI here, while the tenacious Jay Matete also staked a compelling claim for a starting berth with his contributions from the bench.

With a couple of alterations, the Wearsiders could be much improved and may have enough to defeat Cardiff, a club in flux right now.

The Bluebirds dismissed Steve Morison as manager seven weeks ago now and still haven’t made an external appointment, nor have they committed to interim boss Mark Hudson.

Swansea to beat Wigan – 20/23

Swansea will have to embrace the favourites tag in the absence of their captain and Mr Consistency, Matt Grimes.

The Swans’ deep-lying playmaker leaves big shoes to fill, missing out via suspension, so Wolves loanee Luke Cundle may drop into a deeper role with Oli Cooper, having recently inked a new contract, coming in to operate as one of the two number 10s with Oli Ntcham.

Grimes has started 67 consecutive Championship games, so he’ll, of course, be a big miss, but it’s possible that his absence will allow Russ Martin’s side to share playmaking duties throughout the side, as to relying too much on one player.

Grimes completes, on average, 94.5 passes per 90 minutes, which is 11.1 more than anyone in the Championship who has made a double-figured number of league appearances, and 16.9 more than his teammate with the second-most.

Instead of everything going through Grimes, different players will take on more creative licence without carrying a burden, and that could end up being a healthy dynamic for Swansea, who are facing a Wigan side that have just lost five on the spin.

The Latics only lost 1-0 to Stoke last time out, but they allowed their opponents plenty of chances in the second half, and, so often, the team associated with the intangibles of spirit, fight and togetherness look unrecognizable at the moment.

Watford to beat Coventry – 20/23

Watford looked in crisis after last month’s 3-0 defeat to Millwall, but what followed was a shock 4-0 derby thumping of Luton in the rivalry’s first meeting in front of fans for 16 years.

That star showing catalysed a run of three straight wins, including most recently a 2-1 victory at Cardiff, which has put Slaven Bilic’s side back in the top six – what a difference a fortnight makes!

Bilic admitted that his team were slopping in the first quarter of the contest, and the marking from Joe Ralls’ corner for Cedric Kipre’s headed opener was non-existent.

The response was there, though: Kayembe is capable of a long-range diagonal, Joao Pedro started to get into some dangerous positions on the left channel, and after Francisco Sierralta levelled from a corner of their own, the game turned for the Hornets.

The attacking quartet of Pedro, Ken Sema, Ismaila Sarr and Vakoun Bayo is a dangerous one for the Hertfordshire outfit, so once they get into the final third, they will always carry a threat.

Coventry are improving under Mark Robins, as was to be expected, with Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Blackburn giving them a return of 15 points from their last seven games.

Due to illness, though, the Sky Blues are short on depth. Had they not established a first-half lead in midweek through Jamie Allen’s goal, they would have only had Kasey Palmer on the bench as somebody capable of swinging a game at the Championship level.

Betfair Acca