Football Accumulator Tips: Sunday’s Cross-European Treble

Last week was a case of falling at the last hurdle with just one goal (that didn't come) denying us a winner; but that's not the sort of thing to dishearten Jamie Pacheco and the 3-3-3- column.   

It's all about the 'overs' this week with corners, total match goals and home team goals as we travel to Parma, Lyon and Lisbon looking to get back on track. You can check out Jamie's Weekend Football Accumulator Tips below, with all three selections going on Sunday...

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: -1.81pts  

We were on track for a good payout last week after PSG won with over 2.5 goals and Real Madrid did their bit too with victory over Celta; so, it all came down to Venezia v Atalanta and our need for goals at both ends. Atalanta delivered for us with two goals, Venezia didn’t; it ended 0-2. A shame and we could really have done with a decent win, but it wasn’t to be.  

A friend of mine used to say, “If at first you don’t succeed…pack it in and go do something else.”  

Last time I checked he’d worked 12 different jobs in 15 years, had lived in four different countries and had been divorced twice. “So, what’s next?” I asked. 

‘Flying to Canada next week. Got a job interview and a date on the same day. Got a good feeling about this one”  

Well, at least he tries. And so do we. And for good measure, I’ve got a good feeling about this week’s acca.  

Parma v Empoli   

Sunday October 27 11:30  

Selection: Over 9.5 corners @ 4/6  

It wasn’t the best match I ever watched live. That honour goes to Portugal v England at Euro 2004 that just had a bit of everything, including Waye Rooney breaking his foot, a somewhat ‘wrongly’ disallowed goal against Sol Campbell, a screamer from Rui Costa and Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo famously removing his gloves before saving Darius Vassell’s penalty…then taking the winning spot kick himself.  

But 10 years earlier, at the same stadium (Estadio da Luz, albeit the old version of it) I watched Benfica beat a star-studded Parma side 2-1 at home in the semi-finals of the Cup Winner’s Cup in what was the most memorable game I ever saw in the flesh.  

That Parma side included Brolin, Asprilla, Zola and Sensini and after winning 1-0 at home in the return leg and going through to the final, they lost 1-0 to Arsenal in Copenhagen with Alan Smith scoring the winner.  

Officially, there were 80,000 at the ground but these were the old days of non-marked seats and I’m pretty sure I remember the stadium announcer saying there were more like 100,000 there that night. Out of interest, Rui Costa scored a great goal in that 2-1 win for Benfica, too.  

Parma have had some turbulent years since then, with several relegations (including going all the way down to Serie D!) and at one stage operating in controlled administration.  

They were promoted this season back to Serie A after yet another relegation and aren’t finding things particularly easy given they’re down in 17th with just one win in eight.  

But if wins have been hard to come by, a high number of corners in their matches have been a permanent fixture of their campaign so far. In eight matches, seven of them have gone over 9.5 corners. Against Bologna at the start of the month, there were 19.  

This week’s opponent Empoli aren’t quite as impressive when it comes to corners but it’s still 6/8 for over 9.5 corners this season. Between them they can surely muster over 9.5.  

Lyon v Auxerre   

Sunday October 27 14:00  

Selection: Over 2.5 goals @ 4/9  

In part two of rolling back the years and reminiscing about great players of the past, how about that man Juninho Pernambucano?  

The Brazilian, who played at Lyon between 2001 and 2009 was a fantastic midfielder in his own right, but it was for his free-kicks that he was best known.  

Official figures have him down as scoring 75 over the course of his career which many reckon is a world record. Either way, it’s pretty impressive given he ‘only’ scored 181 goals in total.  

He’s also said to have invented the ‘knuckleball’ technique that involves putting no spin on the ball so that it wobbles in mid-air and makes it harder for the keeper to track, a technique later adopted by the likes of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.  

Carl Anka of the BBC once said of him:  

“Much like King Arthur had Excalibur and William Tell his crossbow, the folk hero Juninho possessed his own special weapon to save the day — his legendary free-kicks. No one hit a free-kick quite like Juninho. No one.”  

Some description.  

His old side Lyon, where he was recently their Sporting Director, are in action this week against Auxerre.  

We can’t promise 40-yard knuckleball free-kicks in this match and in fact, we can’t ‘promise’ anything at all.  

But here’s what we do know: six of Lyon’s eight matches this season have had over 2.5 goals in them.  

They have kindred spirits in this week’s opponents Auxerre, who go one better with 7/8 when it comes to games with at least three goals in them. All of their last six went over the 2.5 goals mark and three of the last four between these two have had over 2.5 goals, as well. ‘Overs’ it is.  

Benfica v Rio Ave  

Saturday, October 27 18:00  

Selection: Home Team (Benfica) to score over 2.5 Goals @ 4/5  

A midweek Bet Builder on Kerem Arturkoglu to score and Benfica to get the most corners against Feyenoord paid out at a healthy 100/30 in midweek to keep up our excellent profits on Benfica games in the Champions League.  

Against all odds (literally) they lost the match 1-3 to a fine Feyenoord performance but that wasn’t the only anomaly. They’re generally good for far more goals than that, especially at home.  

In their three home games prior to that, they’d managed 4, 5 and 4, the latter against Atlético Madrid, no less.  

Rio Ave, in 12th place aren’t a poor side as such but like many others, they’ve found travelling to the Estadio da Luz (there it is again) hard work with 4-1 and 4-2 defeats in their last two visits here.  

Benfica can get back on track here by scoring three or more, a 4/5 chance.  

*You can create your own Acca or follow James' selections over on our Football Accumulator Coupon page on betfred.com

James’ Fun Fact  

After seven seasons at Fiorentina, during which Rui Costa played 215 matches and scored 38 goals, his manager at the club, Fatih Terim, moved to AC Milan and insisted on taking Costa with him; no surprises there.  

The fee - 140 billion lire- at the time made him AC Milan’s most expensive signing ever.