James Milton's Premier League & EFL predictions & free betting accumulator tips

Free football tips, bets and analysis for this weekend's Premier League, EFL & European action.

Best bets

West Ham
2pts 11-10 general

Brentford
2pts 11-8 Betfred, Hills

Accrington
4pts 8-11 general

Peterborough
1pt 21-20 Hills

Fulham v West Ham

5.30pm Saturday

West Ham had to wait until July 1 to claim their third Premier League win of 2020 but, just over a month into 2021, the resurgent Hammers have already racked up five league victories.

Fifth from bottom last season, David Moyes's men are in the top five following Wednesday's 3-1 win at Aston Villa and they have a great chance of another three points away to Fulham.

West Ham were 66-1 ante-post shots to be the top London club but they are looking down on Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal after a run of five wins in six games since the turn of the year.

Their only defeat during that run came against Liverpool while they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2015-16.

Just to prove that things are really clicking for Moyes, Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard scored twice on his debut at Villa Park, while Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen have also impressed behind fit-again striker Michail Antonio.

West Ham won 1-0 in November's home game against Fulham although Ademola Lookman missed the chance to equalise from the penalty spot deep into injury-time.

The Cottagers have proved hard to beat in recent weeks and their 2-2 draw at fellow strugglers West Brom was the seventh time in ten games in which they have shared the points.

Scott Parker's men have lost seven of their 11 home matches since returning to the top flight. Fulham will need to take risks if they are to boost their survival chances by turning draws into wins and that desperation could play into West Ham's hands.

Middlesbrough v Brentford

3pm Saturday

There is nothing stealthy about Brentford's charge up the Championship table as Thomas Frank's side rattled in ten goals in victories over Wycombe and Bristol City to move into the automatic-promotion places.

The Bees are unbeaten in 19 league matches and have won six of their last seven as they aim to avoid a repeat of last season when they lost to Fulham in the playoff final.

Brentford were the leading goalscorers in the division in 2019-20 and they are well on their way to retaining that title, scoring 48 goals in 26 games including seven against Wycombe last weekend.

Middlesbrough can only dream of such attacking firepower after consecutive home defeats to nil against Birmingham, Blackburn and Rotherham. Boro stopped the rot with a 0-0 draw against leaders Norwich last time out but they are likely to find the Canaries' title rivals too hot to handle.

Accrington Stanley v Northampton Town

3pm Saturday

Accrington's last two home games in League One have resulted in a 2-0 win over title contenders Hull and a 6-1 rout of Bristol Rovers.

In between those wins Stanley drew 2-2 at in-form Plymouth, leading twice, and they are outside the playoff places only on goal difference, with at least two games in hand on most of the teams above them.

John Coleman's men look solid home favourites to pick up a 13th win in 23 league fixtures against visitors Northampton, who have failed to score in six of their last eight games in all competitions.

The Cobblers can expect few goalscoring opportunities against an Accrington side who have kept nine clean sheets in their last 16 league games including a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture.

Peterborough United v Crewe Alexandra

3pm Saturday

Crewe remain in the top ten in League One after a 1-0 win at Shrewsbury on Tuesday but the Railwaymen could hit the buffers at Peterborough, who have won eight of their 11 home games this season.

Posh are smarting from a 2-0 defeat to the Shrews last weekend and a goalless draw with Bristol Rovers in which they had 12 shots on target to the Gas's three.

Before then they had racked up three straight wins over MK Dons, Charlton and Ipswich, as well as a draw at title hopefuls Lincoln, and they can get back on track against Crewe.

In their last three outings the visitors have been beaten 4-1 at Gillingham, scored with their only shot on target in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich, and lost the shot battle 16-6 at Shrewsbury.

Weekend accumulators

Banker
Hull
The Tigers beat League One promotion rivals Portsmouth 4-0 in their last away fixture and should be too strong for bottom club Burton, who have lost six of their last seven games, conceding 20 goals.

Blowout
Napoli
Gennaro Gattuso's men have lost four of their last six away matches in all competitions and face a tricky trip to Genoa, who have kept four straight clean sheets in Serie A and took Juventus to extra-time in the Coppa Italia.

Accumulator
Accrington 8-11, Hull 8-11, Juventus 3-4, Lazio 3-8. £1 accumulator returns £7.23 with Betway.

Both teams to score
Games at Manchester United 31-40, Doncaster 8-11, Portsmouth 8-11. £1 treble returns £5.33 with Betway.

Thought for the week

There have been plenty of talking points in the Premier League this week, from Manchester United's nine goals to Arsenal's nine men, and Manchester City's trip to Liverpool on Sunday is a crunch fixture in the title race.

However, I'm looking ahead to another big match: Denmark versus Finland in Euro 2020 Group B on June 12.

Some people who feel nostalgic about 1990s star Jari Litmanen might claim that Finns ain't what they used to be. But looking at their recent international performances I reckon Finns can only get better.

Now I've Finnished those fatuous puns, let's get serious. Finland qualified for their first major tournament finals as runners-up to Italy, winning six of their ten games to nil.

They did the double over Ireland and Bulgaria in the Nations League and stunned world champions France in November's 2-0 friendly win in Paris.

Finland are 15-8 to qualify from a group featuring trophy favourites Belgium but they have little to fear from a solid but unspectacular Denmark side and Russia, who were thumped 5-1 by Serbia in their last Nations League game.

Better value may be the 6-1 about the Finns upsetting Denmark in their Copenhagen opener and, like Euro 2016 debutants Iceland, they could make a strong first impression.

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