Football Accumulator Tips: Back Saints to secure vital victory in 9/1 five-fold

I served up a 9.84/1 four-fold in last weekend's Football Accumulator Tips column, and we came narrowly close to a winner as AFC Wimbledon, Croatia and Portugal all did the business. However, Salisbury FC let us down late on in the National League South as the Wiltshire club conceded an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time. So close, yet so far.

Undeterred, I'm back again with Saturday's tips and we have very similar odds of 9.71/1, but there's an extra game included this time, though League 1 is as low as we are going down the English divisions.

Athletic Club (H) to beat Espanyol (13:00) @ 4/9

I'm kicking off Saturday's accumulator with a La Liga clash between Athletic Club and Espanyol at the former's San Mames. The hosts head into the weekend sixth on 14 points and all three of their defeats this season have been against teams that finished in last season's top four (Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Girona).

The Lions have already faced one newly-promoted side this term, taking a trip to Leganes in mid-September, and they emerged 2-0 winners from that contest, so they should be confident of dispatching Espanyol, who finished five points behind La Liga 2 winners Leganes in 2023/24, in Bilbao.

Espanyol have made a solid start to life back in the top flight, collecting 10 points from their first nine games and beating Mallorca 2-1 last time out.

However, prior to that victory, the Parakeets had lost three on the spin, and they are yet to win away this term, picking up just a single point from four road matches and scoring just once.

To their credit, Espanyol did grind out a goalless draw at Atletico Madrid and took the lead at the Santiago Bernabeu before collapsing to a 4-1 defeat against Real Madrid, but they also lost 1-0 away to Real Valladolid and Real Betis, highlighting early issues on their travels.

Athletic have lost just once at home this term, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Atletico in August, but they've beaten Valencia (1-0) and Celta Vigo (3-1) there in La Liga and overcome AZ Alkmaar (2-0) in the Europa League, while they recorded the fifth-best home record in the league last season.

San Mames can be something of a fortress for Athletic, and I would expect them to comfortably deal with any challenges posed by Espanyol on Saturday.

Southampton (H) to beat Leicester City (15:00) @ 13/10

A battle of two newly-promoted Premier League clubs takes place at St Mary's Stadium this weekend with Southampton searching for a first league win of the season at the eighth attempt against Leicester City, who broke their duck last time out with a 1-0 victory over Saints' south-coast rivals AFC Bournemouth.

Saturday's hosts are only off the bottom of the table by virtue of a better goal difference than Wolves who, like Russell Martin's side, have lost six of their first seven Premier League games in 2024/25.

Crucially for Martin, two home matches against Leicester and Everton are on the agenda, either side of a trip to Manchester City, and they are two contests in which he will be targeting maximum points; a failure to do so, or at least get one win, could cost the former Scotland international his job.

Leicester have surprised many with the start they have made under new head coach Steve Cooper, with the Foxes drawing against Tottenham Hotspur (1-1), Crystal Palace (2-2) and Everton (1-1) before beating Bournemouth just before the international break.

However, five of the six points the Foxes have accrued have been at home, and in the game they did avoid defeat, against Palace at Selhurst Park, they let slip a two-goal lead.

Southampton lost their first two matches at St Mary's against Nottingham Forest (0-1) and Manchester United (0-3) but drew 1-1 with fellow Premier League newbies Ipswich Town in their last home outing and were only denied all three points by a deflected Sam Morsy strike in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time.

The Saints need a win on Saturday and they will surely be going all out to get it; at 13/10, I'm happy to get on board with them as their motivation should be sky-high, spelling danger for the travelling Foxes.

Middlesbrough (H) to beat Bristol City (15:00) @ 8/11

At the same time, Bristol City take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, with just three points separating the sides in the EFL Championship.

Saturday's hosts are ninth on 14 points after winning back-to-back games at home to Stoke City (2-0) and away to West Bromwich Albion (0-1) before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Watford before the international break, while the visitors are 16th on 11 points having drawn their last three games against Swansea City (0-0), Sheffield Wednesday (0-0) and Cardiff City (1-1).

Boro are unbeaten at the Riverside this season, beating Swansea (1-0) and Stoke either side of draws with Portsmouth (2-2) and Preston North End (1-1), while the Robins are winless on the road, losing 3-0 at Derby County and Blackburn Rovers in between 1-1 draws at Hull City and Swansea.

Michael Carrick's side will be seeking revenge for losing 2-1 at the Riverside in February when Jason Knight and Matty James sent the visitors into a two-goal lead at half-time before Sam Silvera struck a late consolation for the hosts.

I'm not expecting a classic between these sides on Saturday with both having scored just 10 goals after nine league games, but Boro have conceded half (seven) of City's total (14) and at home, should have just enough to claim all three points on Teesside.

Bolton (H) to beat Burton Albion (15:00) @ 2/5

In League 1, Bolton Wanderers welcome Burton Albion to the Toughsheet Community Stadium looking to get back to winning ways after drawing 2-2 with Shrewsbury Town last time out in the competition.

Burton provide the perfect opposition on Saturday as the Brewers have lost their last five games, including their previous four in the third tier of English football. Mark Robinson's side are, in fact, yet to win a league games this season and sit second bottom after nine matches played, with only Cambridge United keeping them off the foot of the table.

The corresponding fixture between Bolton and Burton last season, on New Year's Day this year, saw the Trotters triumph 1-0, and Ian Evatt's side are fully expected to overcome their lower-ranked opponents again.

Anything but a win would heap huge pressure on Evatt, and I just don't see the Brewers getting anything at the home of one of the automatic promotion contenders, despite Bolton's iffy form so far which has them 14th on as many points after nine games.

Inter Miami (H) to beat New England Revolution (23:00) @ 1/3

Finally, we head to the USA in the evening, as MLS Eastern Conference champions Inter Miami host the New England Revolution at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Inter lead the Eastern Conference by eight points heading into the campaign's final weekend but head coach Gerardo Martino will want to maintain momentum ahead of the MLS Cup playoffs, which begin next week. The Herons are currently on a 10-game unbeaten run in the league dating back to a 6-1 defeat to Cincinnati on July 7 and they've won seven of those contests, including their last two away to Columbus Crew (2-3) and Toronto FC (0-1).

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were only second-half substitutes last time out in Canada and it took for their introductions for the side to get going, with Suarez providing the assist for Leonardo Campana's added-time winner. The duo are expected to start on Saturday, with Messi arriving back in the USA after hitting a hat-trick for Argentina in a 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia in the early hours of Wednesday.

Martino could tinker with his lineup this weekend but with Inter not set to be in action for another week at least, the Argentine may decide it's worthwhile to get some rhythm into the side, and that could spell danger for the New England Revolution, who are in grave danger of finishing bottom of the pile.

The Revs are currently 14th in the Eastern Conference, just a point ahead of the Chicago Fire, although they could also overtake Nashville in 13th if results go their way.

It's been a pretty dismal campaign for Caleb Porter's side, who have only won two of their last 14 MLS matches and have lost all three so far in October.

There might be motivation to avoid coming last, but I think Miami's quality is likely to shine through on Saturday as they look to end the regular season in style.

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