Over 2.5 Goals Tips: 20/1 Accumulator for Saturday’s Matches

Our attempts to go back-to-back weeks with this column being a winner fell short - thank you Harrogate Town vs Crewe Alexandra.

We look to get back to winning ways with a 20/1 sevenfold exclusively from the FA Cup First Round on as we provide our Over 2.5 Goals Tips for Saturday's matches...

Leg 1 - Alfreton Town vs Worthing @ 8/13

We start the Over 2.5 Goals column at the Impact Arena where the team with the best record for this stat is the National League North entertain National League South side, Worthing. This is a battle of two clubs in the sixth-tier of the football pyramid, both of whom are knocking on the door of the playoffs a third of the way through the season.

As mentioned, the home side are top dogs for being involved in games where three or more goals are scored in their division, coming in at 71% (10 of 14). Both sides are averaging three goals-a-game in total through their league campaigns.

This battle of non-league clubs for the right to make the second round of the FA Cup seems primed for plenty of attacking play. An early goal would certainly open it up as this is a great opportunity for both sides to progress and be just one step away from potentially playing a big boy in the third round proper. 

Leg 2 - Bolton Wanderers vs Solihull Moors @ 4/11

I’ve written before in these accumulator columns that Bolton are one of the toughest sides to read. 

The only plus point on their unpredictability in terms of betting on games they are involved in, is they tend to either score or concede a few. Only five times this season has at least one side in a match they’ve played not scored at least twice. 

On Saturday, they welcome in a team from two divisions below and the home side should be considered relatively heavy favourites. A colleague here in the office who watches Bolton a fair bit commented that ‘they have about five strikers but nothing else’ and that is the type comment that makes you feel good about betting on the Over 2.5. 

Leg 3 - Marine A.F.C. vs Harrogate Town @ 8/15

We’ve been down to the sixth-tier of the football pyramid already in this article but we go one step further here with Northern Premier League side Marine A.F.C. 

The Mariners are looking for their fourth win over league competition in their history, having previously dispatched Barnsley, Oxford and Colchester. It was only three years ago that they made the third round proper and enjoyed a primetime game live on the BBC against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs, going down 0-5 at home.

Harrogate have not been great for the Over 2.5 players so far this season. It is rare for me to include any side with under a 50% success rate but this is the cup and they are playing a team who would need to be promoted three times to be in the same division. Class should tell but don’t rule out a goal for the home side either. Should clear the three in total mark.

Leg 4 - Oxford United vs Maidenhead United @ 8/15

The top side playing in the FA Cup First Round on Saturday are Oxford United. Liam Manning’s side are second in League 1 (top-placed Portsmouth play on Sunday) and the U’s are overwhelming favourites to dispatch relegation-threatened Maidenhead and progress.

For the visitors, this is very much a free hit and a chance to get away from the battle to survive in the National League. Theresa May’s local team did manage to get a win last time out, beating Eastleigh 3-2 but you have to go back to the middle of August to find their last non-cup victory. 

In their past five games though, that magic over 2.5 number has been surpassed each and every time. Over 3.5 has actually come in on four of those five occasions. 

You have to like Oxford for the win and considering how porous the Maidenhead defence is, this has every chance of being a winning leg.

Leg 5 - Peterborough United vs Salford City @ 4/6

This game is also included in my Saturday Accumulator Tips column, where I’m very much rolling the dice by tipping up the visitors at 5/1 to come away from their trip to the Weston Homes Stadium with their name in the hat for the second round.

Peterborough have been far better in front of goal in recent weeks having scored at least twice in four of their past five games. One of my big question marks though is whether they’ll play a full-strength side. 

When it comes to Salford, they snapped a nice five-game streak of being Over 2.5 winners last weekend when they failed to register a shot on target in a 0-0 draw at Barrow. They did bounce back nicely on Tuesday night by beating a Man City U21 side 4-3 in the EFL Trophy. 

Whichever way the tie goes, I don’t think it will be dull. Give me goals all day long.

Leg 6 - Reading vs Milton Keynes Dons @ 4/5

The commentary team on BBC Radio Berkshire said that it was Reading’s best performance of the season on Saturday, despite being beaten 2-3 by top-of-the-table Pompey. They scored two very nice goals and missed a glorious chance when Sam Smith rounded the keeper but missed the wide-open net in a very good first half display.

MK Dons have been a bit of a BTTS/Over 2.5 darling in recent weeks having been a winner on both fronts in four of their past five. They are usually worth adding to these columns.

Expect more protests as Reading supporters continue to show their displeasure at ownership. It won’t be long until there is a shortage of tennis balls in the Reading area and/or the stewards/police are confiscating them from fans' pockets in pre-match checks. That atmosphere though seemed to charge up the players so I expect an open game.

Leg 7 - Stockport County vs Worksop Town @ 4/11

This section doesn’t need to be War & Peace. Stockport have scored multiple times in five straight and are just dominating League 2. Worksop Town are a decent Northern Premier League outfit but this might be the biggest mis-match on paper from any game played on Saturday in the cup.

All the form indicates that the home side should score several and win at a canter. 

We provide Accas throughout the week and have multiple columns of this type every Saturday. Make sure to check out all of our Football Accumulator Tips at the Acca hub page.