Saturday Football Tips: Jamie’s 5/1 Cross-European Weekend Treble

Last week it was oh so close for the 3-3-3 column as the first two legs came in before PSG won but weren't able to hit the Over 1.5 aspect and victory was denied Last year, the 3-3-3 column returned a profit of 17 points, which means that if you’d backed every treble recommended over the course of the season for level £10 stakes, you’d be up by £170.

That’s one of the better returns you’ll see in the tipping business and speaking of returns, Jamie Pacheco is returning again this year to do try to do it all over again, and maybe even improve on it.  Here’s the opening column of the 2025-26 season as he takes us through his Saturday Football Tips for his 3-3-3 column this week...

Welcome to the 3-3-3 betting column. Why is it called that? Glad you asked.  It's not a formation to play when you've had a man sent off but rather: 

• 3 - The number of different selections making up the acca. 
• 3 - The number of different (non-English) European Leagues the selections are taken from every week. 
• 3 - The minimum odds (3/1) or 4.0 if you prefer, that the acca will come to it every week. 

And it really is as simple as that. The selections can be from any betting markets, as long as they meet the criteria set out above.  And to round things off, every week I'll leave you with a cool (or at least I think so) bit of trivia involving one of the teams featured in the acca. Simples... 

2025-26 season Current P and L: -1 

2024-25 season's P and L: +16.9     

We fell at the last hurdle last week with PSG winning all right but only by 1-0 when we needed them to win with at least two goals in the game. But to be fair, and I always do try to be fair in this column, we were fortunate to still be alive after the first match with Barcelona only managing to score the game's third goal against Mallorca with the last kick of the game. And this despite playing most of the match against ten men. So, a near miss to an extent, but on we go.  

• Mallorca vs Celta de Vigo  
• Saturday August 23, 16:00  
• Selection: Back Over 2.5 goals @ 11/8  

Mallorca somewhat surprisingly feature in our 3-3-3 column for the second week running and we're going with the same bet as last week: that there will be over 2.5 goals in their match when Celta Vigo come to town.  

Big difference this time though, with over 2.5 goals a much, much bigger 11/8 than the 8/13 last week.  

Celta's stats show that they had a 68.4% strike rate of 'overs' matches in La Liga last season away from home and all of their last six matches last campaign went 'overs', though admittedly last week's match didn't, ending in a 2-0 defeat.  

Mallorca's 'overs' strike rate last year was 47.4% so not fantastic but we do note that this clash last year in Mallorca ended 2-1 to Celta, so that's another tick.  

The nice thing about opening up with a fancied 11/8 chance is the flexibility it gives for the remaining selections, meaning they can be considerably shorter and still get us to those minimum odds of 3/1.  

• Sassuolo vs Napoli  
• Saturday August 23 17:30  
• Selection: Napoli to win @ 8/15   

The defending champions travel to newly-promoted team Sassuolo on Saturday and if there's one thing we know about any team managed by Antonio Conte, it's that no player is going to show up under-prepared, a little overweight or in any other way short of full fitness. Well, they might, but they won't be playing if they are.  

We also know that he will be well-prepared for this challenge himself in terms of the insight into the opposition and what he needs his team to beat them.  

Either way, this is last year's strongest side against a promoted one and Napoli beat them 6-1 and 2-0 away from home the last two times they played them. So you'd think the reigning champs will start the season with a win, one way or another.  

• Saturday August 23 20:30  
• Benfica vs Tondela  
• Selection: Benfica win to nil @ 4/6  

Benfica have bigger fish to fry than Tondela over the next week with their tie against Fenerbahce in the last round of Champions League qualifying very much in the balance after a 0-0 draw in Turkey in midweek, that will have rewarded 5/2 backers of the draw, my main tip for the match.  

Unlike last week, I'd expect Benfica to leave out some important players this time round, given they're at home, and it's a much easier game on paper than it was against Estrela.  

Benfica have now kept clean sheets in all of their five matches so far this season and let's face it, all those were against stronger teams than Tondela. Benfica did concede one against them last year when winning 2-1 but didn't in any of the three before that, so a home win to nil at 4/6 looks the way to go.  

James' Fun Fact  

Napoli can count on the services of the inimitable Kevin de Bruyne this season after he signed on a free transfer in the summer. As a special gesture of their appreciation for him choosing Napoli, he was allowed to wear the Number 10 shirt owned by a certain Diego Maradona. But only in training! The Napoli number 10 was retired in 2000, so non-one has worn it since, and KDB will wear number 11 in official matches.  

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Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Football Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Football hub page...