Football Accumulator Tips: Saturday 11/1 FavFour backs England to win

Northampton vs Derby – Derby to Win

Derby will have their eyes on promotion as the season enters the business end. They take on Northampton this weekend, who currently sit in 14th place in League One.

Derby won the reverse fixture 4-0 and have won four, drawn one and lost one in their previous six games against Northampton.

Northampton are winless in five games and have conceded 10 goals in those fixtures (three defeats and two draws)

Derby on the other hand, are in fine form, winning their last four games convincingly.

The Rams have strong form on the road this season, winning 12 of their 19 away games and winning eight of their last 11 away from home.

Derby have kept three clean sheets in their last four fixtures, and they come up against a Northampton side that have failed to score more than one goal in their last five games. They need to improve if they want to score against Derby who have the third best defence in the league.

Derby are unlikely to slip up against an out of form Northampton side that are struggling in the final third, they should be too good defensively, and continue their pursuit of Portsmouth who are top of the table.

Ireland vs Belgium – Belgium to Win

Ireland welcomes the Red Devils to Dublin this weekend as they look to recover from a lacklustre Euro qualification campaign that saw them fail to qualify and secure just two wins. Their visitors contrastingly, dominated their group and will have their sights set on preparing for the tournament this summer. 

Ireland enters this game with six losses in their last nine fixtures. Their two wins in this run of games both came against the 201st ranked international side, Gibraltar.

They finished 10 points off qualification to the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany this year and failed to score in four of the eight qualifying games.

Belgium on the other hand, haven’t lost in 11 games and have won eight of those. They cruised to Euro qualification, winning six of their eight fixtures with relative ease. 

Their new manager Domenico Todesco seems to have finally got this high potential Belgium squad winning consistently.

Ireland’s interim head coach John O’Shea will be hoping he can do the same, but I don’t think this will be the game that turns things around for them.

Belgium has six clean sheets in 11 games and are averaging 2.8 goals per game in their last five fixtures. They come up against an Irish team that excluding Gibralta, haven’t kept a clean sheet in 11 games. 

Belgium’s impressive firing power, against a weak Irish defence should be a big problem for John O’Shea’s men. Belgium is in far better form and are the better side, they should win this.

England vs Brazil – England to Win

Favourites to win the Euro 2024 tournament this summer, England, come up against the Copa America second-favourites, Brazil. The game will be played at Wembley Stadium.

The first thing to note about this game is England’s formidable record at Wembley stadium. They haven’t lost here in 20 consecutive games. They are also unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions (eight wins).

They welcome a Brazil side who are on a three-match losing streak. One more loss will equal their worst losing streak since July 2001. 

They haven’t been their usual free scoring self in the post-Tite era. They have scored just three goals in their last five fixtures.

To add to their woes, Brazil are riddled with injury Gabriel Magalhães had recently joined a long list of players such as Gabriel Martinelli, Joelinton, Éder Militão, Casemiro, Neymar, João Pedro, Ederson, Alisson and Marquinhos on the increasingly long injury list.

As a result, Brazil take 11 players who are currently uncapped to Wembley for this game including all three goalkeepers, who will be facing the shots of an inform Harry Kane.

This inexperienced Brazil side is coming up against an incredibly strong England side who are on a solid run of form. This young squad might surprise the world, but I think this England squad will use their vast experience and home advantage to sail past this Brazil team.

France vs Germany – France to Win

France welcome Germany to the Groupama Stadium this weekend for a heavyweight international clash. Germany is the only side in 2023 to beat France and will be hoping to start 2024 with the same result.

They haven’t played a competitive international fixture since the disappointing 2022 World Cup exit, competing solely in friendly matches which have been far from a success.

Despite getting one over France seven months ago, Germany have been in terrible form. They have just two wins in their last 10 games, losing six of those.

France on the other hand, has won seven of their eight euro qualifying games, which featured a 14-0 mauling of Gibraltar and a double over Netherlands. Their only draw was against Greece after already securing top spot.

Nagelsmann has dropped seven players from the side that lost to Austria 2-0 most recently and looks to be introducing a new look to his Germany side, as he experiments to get the best out of them.

France takes the same settled side that have been walking over their opponents recently, with just the absence of Griezmann to deal with.

With 20 goals in their last three games France should have no problem scoring against a German side that haven’t kept a clean sheet in 10 games.

France will also benefit from facing an experimental Germany squad, their experience and chemistry will certainly give them an advantage.

Free scoring France should win easily against a German side that have been inconsistent and unpredictable and struggling to keep goals out.