Football Accumulator Tips: Cov to kick off 24/1 Saturday five-fold

Last weekend's 30/1 acca got off to a great start as Brighton & Hove Albion beat Manchester United 2-1 to land leg one, and there were further triumphs as Fulham edged out Leicester City 2-1 and Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0. Unfortunately, Middlesbrough were held to a 2-2 draw by Portsmouth, while the biggest long shot, Rotherham United, lost 2-0 at Wycombe Wanderers.

I'm back this week to provide my football accumulator tips for Saturday, August 31, as I look to end the month in style with a 24/1 five-fold.

Football Odds

Coventry City (H) to beat Norwich City (12:30) @ 5/6

Coventry lost 1-0 at Stoke on the opening weekend of the season but have since beaten Bristol City and Oxford United 1-0 in the Carabao Cup to advance to the third round of the competition. In between those cup ties, Mark Robins' side played both clubs in the Championship, beating the U's 3-2 at the Coventry Building Society Arena and drawing 1-1 with the Robins at Ashton Gate.

The Sky Blues will be targeting a third game unbeaten in the league on Saturday, and I think they can make it two wins out of two at home when they welcome Norwich to CV6. The Canaries have endured a stuttering start to the Johannes Hoff Thorup era, failing to win any of his first three Championship matches in charge.

The Norfolk club began life under the 35-year-old Dane with a 2-0 loss at Oxford United before home draws with Blackburn Rovers (2-2) and Sheffield United (1-1). Norwich are also out of the Carabao Cup after following up a 4-3 first-round victory over Stevenage with a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

Saturday's visitors to the Coventry Building Society Arena did actually get the better of the head-to-head between the two last season, drawing 1-1 in Coventry last October before winning 2-1 at Carrow Road on February 3.

However, Norwich have sold Gabriel Sara and Jonathan Rowe this summer and look to be a work in progress under Thorup, while Coventry remain consistent under long-serving boss Robins, who saw new signing Brandon Thomas-Asante net his first in Sky Blue colours on Tuesday night.

Haji Wright and Ellis Simms are among those set to return to the starting XI on Saturday lunchtime, and the hosts' firepower should prove too much for the Canaries.

VfB Stuttgart (H) to beat 1. FSV Mainz 05 (14:30) @ 8/13

Stuttgart have a lot to live up to this season after finishing runners-up to Bayer Leverkusen in the 2023/24 Bundesliga, and they didn't get off to a great start after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Freiburg on the opening weekend.

However, Die Roten rebounded to thrash second-tier side Munster 5-0 in the DFB Pokal in midweek, and Saturday marks their return to the MHP Arena after over three months without competitive action there.

Mainz ended the previous campaign in 13th, just two points above the relegation zone, and they picked up just 12 points from 17 Bundesliga away games in 2023/24 - only FC Koln, Darmstadt (both 11), Union Berlin and Bochum (both 10) claimed fewer point on their travels.

Die Nullfunfer began the new Bundesliga season with a 1-1 draw at home with Union Berlin last Saturday, eight days after only getting past third-tier side Wehen 3-1 after extra-time in the DFB Pokal. Mainz won't welcome a trip to Stuttgart on Saturday having lost 3-1 home and away to them last season.

Stuttgart saw 2023/24 top scorer Serhou Guirassy depart for Borussia Dortmund during the summer but recruited Augburg's Ermedin Demirovic and he has paid immediate dividends, scoring against both Freiburg and Munster, while Deniz Undaz is looking to build on the 18 goals he struck in the previous campaign.

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Aston Villa (A) to beat Leicester City (15:00) @ 8/11

Aston Villa and Leicester City both suffered their first defeats of the season last weekend as they lost 0-2 and 2-1 respectively to Arsenal and Fulham. The Foxes are yet to win this term following their promotion from the second tier in May, drawing 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur in the opening round of Premier League fixtures, but the Villans did achieve a 2-1 victory at West Ham United earlier this month to claim their first 'W'.

Only the top three - Manchester City (44), Arsenal (42) and Liverpool (34) - won more away points than Villa (28) in the Premier League last season, and Unai Emery's side won all three games at the newly promoted clubs: Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United.

Leicester are fancied to follow in the trio's footsteps by dropping straight back down to the Championship, and while they battled bravely against Spurs and Fulham, the signs are there that a lack of quality in their ranks could cost them.

Ollie Watkins was culpable for a couple of poor misses against Arsenal last weekend and the England international will be desperate to make amends at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Villa won the previous meeting between the sides 2-1 at the King Power in April 2023 and have a terrific chance of making it back-to-back victories at the venue.

Bolton Wanderers (H) to beat Exeter City (15:00) @ 4/9

Exeter visit the venue of their biggest humiliation last season when they take a trip up north to face Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. The Grecians lost 7-0 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium last November, with Trotters striker Dion Charles bagging a brace, and although they drew the reverse fixture 2-2 at St James Park in March, the mental scars remain.

Bolton have been installed as one of the favourites to achieve automatic promotion this term and last season's beaten play-off finalists have made a solid, if unspectacular start, to the new campaign, kicking things off with a 2-1 win at Leyton Orient before being held to a goalless draw by Wrexham and losing 2-0 at Charlton Athletic last time out in the league. Ian Evatt's side are also through to the third round of the Carabao Cup after overcoming Mansfield Town and Shrewsbury Town in the first two rounds.

Twenty-six points separated these sides in the 2023/24 League 1 table and similar is expected this season with the Trotters determined to return to the second tier after spending so long outside it. Saturday's hosts should certainly be confident of picking up all three points this weekend with the visit of Exter, who have lost their last three games across all competitions, including their last two in League 1.

Criciuma EC (A) to beat Cuiaba EC (22:30) @ 12/5

The big one of the weekend - I'm backing Criciuma to pile more misery on Cuiaba by beating them at the Pantanal on Saturday. Cuiaba are second-bottom in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, level on points with bottom-club Atletico GO, and are without a win in their last eight games across all competitions, including their previous six in the league. The Dourado have lost five of those matches, scoring just four times and blanking in two of them. Relegation is staring them in the face if this form continues.

Criciuma, meanwhile, are six points outside the relegation zone and are in with a great chance of survival with 16 games left to play. They broke out of a three-game winless run on Wednesday, beating Red Bull Bragantino 1-0, and one of their three victories last month included a 2-1 victory at Juventude, who they condemned to a first home defeat of the season.

Spearheaded by former Crystal Palace wing wizard Yannick Bolasie, Criciuma have been a breath of fresh air in the top flight following their promotion from Serie B at the end of last year.

Before being shut out in a 1-0 loss at Fortaleza on August 10, Criciuma had scored in their first 19 league games, a pretty staggering statistic. They've also performed admirably on their travels, picking up 10 points in as many games on the road - six clubs have claimed fewer. Their prospects of winning away for the fourth time this term are strengthened by the home record of Cuiaba, which is dire, to say the least.

Cuiaba have won just six of their 18 points at the Pantanal, scoring just nine times across 11 outings there this term. They've lost their last five matches at the venue, including their last four in Serie A.

At 12/5, Criciuma are a more than enticing price to triumph this weekend.

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