Football Accumulator Tips: Cross-European 4/1 Saturday Treble

No joy last time out but Jamie Pacheco has a slightly different approach to this week’s column, so keep reading to find out what it is and who’s carrying his money over the weekend.  

His selections come from Italy, Spain and France and all three are for Saturday. Check out his Football Accumulator Tips for this weekend below...

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... 

Current P and L: -2.102pts  

No win last week, so we're looking for a change of strategy this time round as we seek a change in fortunes. We normally have three selections at around the 1.5-1.75 mark each and across them they come to odds of around 4.0 or just above, which are the target odds for the acca. It is (odds of 3/1 or above) after all, one of the elements of the 3-3-3 column.  

So this week we're going with one selection at far bigger odds than usual- 3.0 - hope that one comes in and then add two other selections at much shorter odds than normal. Sound good? Of course how it 'sounds' isn't as important as how it gets on, but you know what we mean.  

Lens v PSG 

Saturday, January 18 16:00  

Selection: Back PSG to win and Both Teams to Score @ 2/1     

The big-priced selection is for PSG to beat Leans with both teams scoring at 3.0, or 2/1 if you prefer.   

All of PSG's last three league matches ended with wins in which both sides netted, beating Lyon, Monaco and St Etienne respectively by 3-1, 4-2 and 2-1, proof that though the Parisians keep getting over the line, they also keep on conceding.  

Another important factor is that Lille have scored in seven of the last nine matches between these two in Ligue 1, so they're no strangers to finding the back of PSG's net; we just need the latter to score more than they do. Sounds simple but it's rarely that simple, is it? But if we can nail this one, we'll be well on course to nailing the 3-3-3 column for the week, so all eyes on this one.  

Atalanta v Napoli    

Saturday, January 18 19:45  

Selection: Over 1.5 Goals @ 1/3    

One of the weekend's big games is this one right here that sees third-place Atalanta host leaders Napoli.  

I wouldn't want to predict how the points will be split but I'm happy to predict the game will have at least two goals in it.  

All nine of their home games so far have had at least two in them, to go with nine out of 11 of their away matches. Napoli meanwhile have a 70% strike rate for over 1.5 goals matches on the road and 60% for home ones.  

All of the last nine games in all competitions between these two have ended with at least two goals in them, some considerably more given there have been scores such as 3-2 and 4-2 in there, so we should really have at least two here. Let's hope so.  

Getafe v Barcelona 

Saturday, January 18 20:00  

Selection: Under 2.5 Away Team goals @ 4/11     

Getafe are currently in 15th which doesn't sound particularly impressive but they're the epitome of a side that's 'hard to beat'. That old chestnut. Surely the very best sides in the world, like Bayern Munich, Liverpool or Real Madrid are the ones that are really hard to beat, not the resilient, determined, battling ones? But anyway.  

Now here's a stat: in 23 matches this season, Getafe have never conceded more than two goals in any match. They've kept clean sheets in four of their last six in all competitions and only twice all season did they concede two goals in a match, one of which was away at Real Madrid, which is somewhat understandable.  

They've also got an extremely impressive record at home to Barca, with their last four here at Getafe ending 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 and 0-1 so all stats suggest Barca won't score three here.  

James' Fun Fact  

You won't see a Napoli player wearing the Number 10 jersey anytime soon. Or ever, probably. As a sign of respect to the great Diego Maradona, who led them to two Serie A titles, in 1987 and 1990, they retired his Number 10 shirt in 2000.