Adrian Mills’ selections for Saturday’s Football League matches include wins for Sheffield United and Gillingham.
The new EFL season is firmly up and running and we have picked out a four-fold accumulator that takes in fixtures from across all three divisions on Saturday.
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Norwich v Blackburn – Over 3.5 goals @ 9/5
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Sheffield United to beat QPR @ 4/5
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Mansfield to beat Burton @ 5/6
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Gillingham to beat Morecambe @ 1/1
Acca pays 19/1
Norwich vs Blackburn (Saturday, 15:00)
Norwich bounced back from defeat at Oxford in their Championship opener by edging past Stevenage in a seven-goal thriller in their midweek EFL Cup clash at Carrow Road.
Blackburn were also involved in a high-scoring cup contest as they thrashed Stockport 6-1, a result that came off the back of their 4-2 victory over Derby in their league opener.
Last season’s corresponding fixture between these two sides featured four goals – Blackburn prevailed 3-1 – and given the scoring prowess shown by both teams during the week, that tally can be matched or even surpassed on Saturday.
Sheffield United vs QPR (Saturday, 15:00)
Sheffield United appear to have shaken off last season’s Premier League relegation after following up a league win at Preston on the opening night with a come-from-behind success over Wrexham in the EFL Cup.
The Blades will be confident of making it three wins from three when Queens Park Rangers come to town, as Marti Cifuentes’ side began their campaign with a home defeat to West Brom.
QPR have lost on three of their last four visits to Bramall Lane and this looks like a difficult task for them to take anything away from their latest trip to the Steel City.
Mansfield vs Burton (Saturday, 15:00)
Mansfield have certainly taken to life back in the third tier after a 21-year absence, as they opened their campaign with an eye-catching 2-1 win at Barnsley.
They can follow that up by seeing off a Burton side still finding their own feet after a summer of upheaval.
They have a new head coach in Mark Robinson and he has signed no fewer than 20 new players. Unsurprisingly it is taking time for the Brewers to gel and they have lost their opening two games across league and cup, shipping seven goals in the process.
In contrast, former Albion boss Nigel Clough’s Mansfield are a settled, well-drilled unit and that extra cohesiveness can steer them to all three points in their first home game of the season.
Morecambe vs Gillingham (Saturday, 15:00)
Another team perhaps lacking cohesiveness is League Two Morecambe, who signed 15 new players in one day over the summer after having an EFL registration embargo lifted just weeks before the start of the new campaign.
As a result it has been a difficult start for the Shrimps, as they have failed to score in defeats to Walsall in the league and Huddersfield in the EFL Cup and a third successive loss could be on the cards when Gillingham visit the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
The Gills opened their campaign with an assured 4-1 victory over Carlisle and did not disgrace themselves despite fielding a much-changed side in their cup exit at Championship Swansea.
Promotion appears to be the aim for Gillingham this season and they can deliver a success on the road in this one.
