UK Football is back, and as ever the EFL English Football League kicks it all off.
For those wondering the EFL is a new acronym this year to make the UK Football’s three lower division sound more important and try to attract new followers.
They certainly will have new followers this season as the giant supporter base of Newcastle United and Aston Villa pop down to the Championship for a visit. The question is how long is the stay?
But it’s not all about sides from the EPL, there’s 69 other teams to discuss throughout the season.
In our new weekly, we’ll have a bunch of Top 5 things to look out for, to ponder, to discuss, to bet on, and whatever takes our fancy from the week or in general.
Don’t forget that there’s games every week on Foxtel through the new BeIN Sports deal. There’s never been a better time to follow the EFL English Football League.
5 THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR THE EFL ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE THIS WEEKEND
FULHAM v NEWCASTLE – the weekend and season kicks off on a Friday night UK time, which feels a little anti climatic to be honest. This will however be the first sign of how giant club Newcastle will handle their second second division stint in a decade. Former EPL club Fulham could be one of the real strugglers, and just sold Ross McCormack to Aston Villa
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY v ASTON VILLA – for the same reason as the Newcastle game is interesting, so is the Aston Villa v Sheffield Wednesday clash. Whilst Newcastle exude confidence about returning to the EPL, Aston Villa were so ordinary last season you can’t be so sure. A poor start against one of the teams likely to challenge for playoffs may head them in a further spiral down. Surely they can’t go down to League One.
BOLTON WANDERERS v SHEFFIELD UNITED – an EPL fixture not long ago, these teams have found themselves in the third tier. Sheffield United looking to get out on their sixth attempt, Bolton hoping not to slide any further down the pyramid.
DERBY v BRIGHTON – Two of the playoffs teams from last year looking to get over the disappointment early. Brighton were last year’s surprise early front runners. Derby choked again when it mattered most. Nigel Pearson surely won’t let that happen again.
BeIN SPORT – so good to have 4 of the 12 Championship games televised, and hoping for more and lower down too. A decent highlights show would be great.
5 PLAYERS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2016-2017
As the season starts we’ll point out our best 5 players to watch for the season.
Adebayo Akinfenwa (Wycombe) – The Beast was The Gurgler’s favourite footballer last season for AFC Wimbledon, and whilst the disappointment of him not coming to the A League has died down, we are still hurting. At least he will turn out for Wycombe this season.
Andre Dozzell (Ipswich) – just 17 and on the verge of breaking into the Ipswich Town side full time. He scored on his debut and shows plenty of promise. The world is looking for the next Jamie Vardy.
Ross McCormack (Aston Villa) – sold to Fulham for 11 Million pounds shows how absurd the money in football is if a Championship club pays over 10M for a player. Fulham has sold him to Aston Villa who need something. Something he may just provide, shitloads of goals.
Ched Evans (Chesterfield) – A promising prospect who was convicted for rape and jailed. Appeals have since been launched that doesn’t require our input, but he was shopped around last season to many clubs before being rejected due to fan protests. He has found a home at Chesterfield and will no doubt be looking to make up for lost time.
Euro 2016 players (many clubs) – always interesting to see players who looked good on the big stage go when they return to the lower league. A lesson though, that just because they are second division doesn’t mean they’re second best.
5 BEST FOOTBALL LEAGUE CLUB NAMES
With little to talk about in the way of results, we go through our favourite team names. Anyone can be a United, City or FC. We prefer our sporting teams with more interesting names.
ACCRINGTON STANLEY
BURTON ALBION
LEYTON ORIENT
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
GRIMSBY TOWN
5 PACKS OF OUR BEST BETS
Onto our best bet multis for the weekend. Win early – win often.
CHAMPIONSHIP
$1 for $62
BIRMINGHAM to beat Cardiff
IPSWICH to beat Barnsley
HUDDERSFIELD to beat Brentford
NORWICH to beat Blackburn
WOLVES to beat Rotherham
LEAGUE ONE
$1 for $33
BRADFORD to beat Port Vale
MILLWALL to beat oldham
OXFORD to beat Chesterfield
SOUTHEND to beat Gillingham
PETERBOROUGH to beat Rochdale
LEAGUE TWO
$1 for $$72
WYCOMBE to beat Crawley
GRIMSBY to beat Morecambe
PORTSMOUTH to beat Carlisle
STEVENAGE to beat Crewe
EXETER to beat Blackpool
BEIN SPORTS – FOXTEL TV GAMES THIS WEEKEND
Fri 4:45 Aus – BeIN SPORTS 1 – FULHAM v NEWCASTLE UNITED
Sun 0:00 Aus – BeIN SPORTS 1 – NOTTINGHAM FOREST v BURTON ALBION
Sun 21:00 Aus – BeIN SPORTS 1 – QPR v LEEDS UNITED
Mon 0:130 Aus – BeIN SPORTS 2 – SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY v ASTON VILLA
