Saturday Accumulator

There are certain teams that you always fancy at home who you would rarely consider backing on their travels. This season, more than ever, Stoke City fit into this category. At the Brittania Stadium Tony Pulis’ side continue to look dominant, but European exertions are taking their toll away from the Potteries. The two week international break has certainly come at the right time for the 2010-11 FA Cup finalists who have really struggled to cope with an exhausting fixture list.

The good news is that alarming away results have had little effect on home form. A 4-0 hiding at the Stadium of Light was followed by a 1-1 draw with Man Utd on their own patch. Pulis will be demanding a similar response to a humbling performance at Bolton a fortnight ago; the difference is that QPR are the sort of side that normally leave the Brittania with nothing. Neil Warnock’s team raised their game for encounters with Man City and Chelsea, but it’s usual for a dip in standard to follow such high profile occasions.

There’s a massive match at the foot of the table with the futures of both managers potentially at stake. Wigan have lost eight games in a row and the manner of the defeat at Wolves last time out was really alarming. Goalkeeper Al Habsi was arguably man-of-the-match and the Latics still conceded three times. The results haven’t been much better for Blackburn, but the performances have been of a higher standard entirely.

Rovers were magnificent in 1-0 defeat to Chelsea two weeks ago, a familiar tale of misfortune. It was even worse the week before that at Carrow Road; Steve Kean saw a 3-1 lead evaporate in the final minutes because of a heavily deflected goal and a controversial penalty award in the 94th minute. If there’s any justice in the world, Blackburn will catch a much-deserved break soon and take the three points their efforts merit. A Wigan side in disarray could be the perfect opponents - playing at home is rarely advantageous in their predicament.

In the Championship I’m backing Southampton to keep doing what they always do. It’s played eight, won eight at St Mary’s Stadium for the Saints, and Brighton have slid down the table after a bright start to the campaign. This looks like a banker.

We should be almost as confident about a Birmingham side who would be right in the promotion frame if they just played as many games as everybody else! The Blues are four points off the play-off spots with three games in hand, and they remain unbeaten at St Andrews. Peterborough have had some good days at the office, but mainly at home. Only Doncaster have lost more on their travels.

Back Stoke, Blackburn, Southampton and Birmingham to win at best combined odds of 13/1 with Betfred.