EFL Acca: Back table toppers Burnley to keep winning on Saturday

The EFL continues this weekend, which means more tips from expert Jack Goddard - read on for value bets and EFL predictions from the Championship, League One and League Two.

Burnley v Reading

Kick-off: 3pm Saturday

In a league where there is almost nothing to separate most sides, Burnley seem to finally be emerging as the leading title contender. The Clarets have calmly and precisely floated to the top while a chaotic melee of 23 more-or-less evenly matched sides fight for the remaining spots below.

QPR could overtake them when they eventually play their game in hand, but, to be honest, I don’t envisage that happening. The Championship title is Burnley’s to lose now and they won’t be letting go at any point.

On Tuesday night, against a supposed promotion rival, Vincent Kompany’s side passed Norwich to pieces before finally finishing them off via a Jay Rodriguez penalty. The 1-0 scoreline was not reflective of Burnley’s dominance.

The Clarets, who started the season with seven draws from their opening 12 games, have now won four of their last five. They’re turning up the heat just as Paul Ince’s Reading are coming off the boil. The Royals have lost three of their last four, and five of their seven away games on the season. I expect Burnley to make a clear statement of intent at Turf Moor.

Prediction: Burnley to win and over 1.5 goals @ 1.9

Peterborough v Cambridge

Kick-off: 3pm Saturday

Peterborough have successfully recovered from the run of six straight defeats that derailed their early season form a few weeks ago. Since losing to Bolton on September 17, they have won five of their last seven league matches and scored at a rate of 2.4 goals a game in the process.

The Posh’s form at London Road never really abandoned them, though, as Grant McCann’s side have won six of their eight games this season with a league-high home goal difference of +16, which means they’re outscoring their guests by two goals on average.

Jonson Clarke-Harris: Peterborough's striker is the top-goalscorer in League One this season

If you could hand pick a team for Peterborough to continue that trend against, it would be Cambridge. The Us have the second-worst away goal difference in League One and are in a foul run of form. Don’t let last week’s win at Wycombe fool you - Cambridge had lost five league matches in a row before that and scored just once in all those losses combined.

Prediction: Peterborough -1.5 on Asian Handicap @ 2.04

Bolton v Oxford 

Kick-off: 3pm Saturday

This is Bolton’s first mention in this column as their topsy-turvy start to the season has made them a difficult side to judge. They seem to be garnering a bit of momentum now, though, and have won six of their last nine games, including their last two.

Ian Evatt’s side will still be buoyed from their midweek result, when an 87th-minute equaliser and a 98th-minute winner defeated Burton in the most exhilarating of circumstances. Wanderers fans would probably like to win a bit more convincingly, but their side has nonetheless triumphed in 75% of their home matches this term.

Oxford are probably better than their league position of 20th suggests as they haven’t lost by more than a single goal all season, although they have still been defeated in half of their 14 games.

They also received a red card in each of their last two matches and that may catch up to them as they embark on their third fixture in a week. The Trotters’ dominance at University of Bolton Stadium should result in a narrow win against a tired side.

Prediction: Bolton to win @ 2.16

Colchester v Stevenage

Kick-off: 3pm Saturday

Let’s get it straight: Colchester are rubbish. They’ve struggled to accumulate just four points from their last seven games, a run which has seen them fail to score on four separate occasions. In that time they managed a win against Harrogate and a draw at home to Crawley, who sit 21st and 19th in the League Two table respectively. 

Stevenage are the inverse of Colchester, and have been flying along at a rate of 2.2 points per game. Their strength has been at home, where they were perfect before losing to Northampton last weekend, but the Boro have now picked up seven points from their last three matches on the road.

Steve Evans’ side may not be spectacular away from home, but they’re more than capable of picking off the weaker teams - Colchester certainly fall into that category.

Prediction: Stevenage to win @ 2.16

EFL Predictions

Burnley v Reading: Burnley & Over 1.5 goals @ 1.9
Peterborough United v Cambridge United: Peterborough -1.5 on Asian Handicap @ 2.04
Bolton Wanderers v Oxford United: Bolton to win @ 2.16
Colchester United v Stevenage Borough: Stevenage to win @ 2.16

Accumulator odds: 12 decimal, 11-1 fractional