Over 2.5 Goals Tips: Cup finals, relegation battles and a 5/1 acca

As European football reaches the sharp end of the season, with titles, cups, pride and survival all to play for, I must plough my lonely furrow to find you a selection of goalfests. The 2.5 goals accumulator tips are on hand to show you where to look for goalmouth action this weekend.

Manchester City vs Chelsea (15:00 BST) @ 4/6

The FA Cup is magic. Granted, one team who rode to prominence on the back of a shamed oligarch facing one who still soars on problematic billions is hardly Roy of the Rovers stuff. But the ingrained tradition of the Wembley showpiece keeps us tuning in regardless. Even if it’s just to do a banger tweet showing how slowly the VIPs return from their halftime lobster tails. 

Finals can be cagey affairs, but I don’t think such caution is on either team’s mind. Pep Guardiola has a title to win so he will want this done quickly. Chelsea are floundering and have shipped three goals each to Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Wembley foes City in three of their last six games. I think we can safely assume the net will ripple here.

Celtic vs Hearts (12:30 BST) @ 8/15

From broken blue hearts to a team called Hearts now. Top segue, that. The Scottish Premiership takes a kicking for being too predictable, which is why this game is special. 

This is, in essence, a cup final with the league title at stake. Unlikely leaders Hearts sit atop the division, one point above the Hoops in second. Win the game and you win the title. A draw will also be enough to make Hearts the first non-Old Firm side to lift the Scottish title since some bloke named Alex Ferguson did it with Aberdeen in 1984/85.

This is seismic stuff and the form guide points to goals. Hearts’ matches have seen over 2.5 goals scored in four of their last five outings, with only a 1-1 draw with Motherwell as an outlier. Celtic’s last five games in all competitions have all seen more than 2.5 goals shared between sides. This titanic tussle for Celtic’s eternal title should have plenty to cheer about.

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St Pauli vs Wolfsburg (14:30 BST) @ 4/6

The high stakes just keep on coming, as St Pauli and Wolfsburg battle for their Bundesliga status. In the most gripping bit of league action since I told you about the Scottish league a minute ago, 16th-placed Wolfsburg, Heidenheim in 17th and bottom-placed St Pauli all head into the final day on 26 points. There really is everything to play for.

Heidenheim’s result against mid-table Mainz will play a role. But this is must-win stuff with 17th and 18th dumping you in the second tier, while 16th grants a possible reprieve in the play-offs. 

St Pauli’s last five games have included shipping five to Bayern Munich and 2-1 losses to Mainz and RB Leipzig. Wolfsburg have been a bit tighter at the back, holding Bayern to a 1-0 win. But 2-1s in victory over Union Berlin and a loss to Eintracht Frankfurt show they can score and concede with regularity.

Willem II vs Almere (19:00 BST) @ 1/2

As if that daunting dose of relegation peril wasn’t enough, Willem II and Almere will do that dance in the Eredivisie promotion/relegation play-off semi final. Willem II secured a 1-0 win in the away leg. A score redolent of a cautious first leg. But with everything to play for, I expect goals to flow.

Almere scored the second-most goals in the Eerste Divisie this season with 78 strikes. The 1-0 defeat to Willem is the only one of their five play-off games this season not to feature over 2.5 goals. Before that, you had to go back 10 games to find their last outing in which under 2.5 goals were scored.

Brighton & Hove Albion Women vs Tottenham Hotspur Women (13:00 BST) @ 4/6

This Women’s Super League contest has goals written all over it. Only three sides have conceded more than Spurs’ 37 shipped goals this term. Brighton have experienced 3-2 matches with Liverpool and Manchester City in recent weeks.

Spurs have two 5-2 results in their last five outings while only one of those matches saw under 2.5 goals scored. Expect the net to bulge in this intriguing battle between fifth and sixth in the WSL.

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