Saturday Accumulator

For the final day of the year I’ve targeted three teams who have travelled poorly throughout much of 2011 to go out with a whimper! Between them, Fulham, Wigan and Doncaster have won just five away games this season, but lost 20. On the other hand, Stoke and Norwich have built their solid Premier League positions around decent home form, while Watford are fast improving in the Championship.

We start with Norwich entertaining Fulham. The Cottagers have been something of a tipster’s nightmare at times this season with inconsistency being a byword. For that reason I’m not expecting the fine 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day to trigger a huge upturn in fortunes. There have been too many false dawns before.

At times Martin Jol’s side have shown defensive vulnerabilities that perhaps many didn’t expect. The 5-0 defeat to Man Utd in the last home outing was a bit of a shock after the champions had struggled at Craven Cottage so many times in recent years. Norwich are exactly the sort of team who can exploit any weaknesses; they have scored more goals at home than any side outside of the top four.

The Canaries have already beaten Newcastle, QPR, Swansea and Sunderland at Carrow Road this season. You would look at that and say that Fulham are exactly the sort of visitors who leave Norfolk empty-handed. Perhaps most tellingly, it looks like the Londoners will be without key trio Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson and Damien Duff. I can’t see them adding to their solitary away win without those three.

Stoke don’t score too many but they have a habit of making their goals count, particularly at the Brittania Stadium. Their only defeat anywhere in the last six was away to league leaders Man City, so the form is pretty good. Wigan visit on Saturday; I think the whole reason most people think of the Potters as an established top half team these days is that they win fixtures like this one routinely. To be fair, the Latics were in a purple patch that dragged them off the bottom of the table. But the 5-0 hammering at Old Trafford on Boxing Day might have knocked the stuffing out of them.

The final part of our treble sees Watford host a Doncaster Rovers team who have lost more away matches than any other team in the second tier - 10. A relegation dogfight looks like a certainty for Dean Saunders’ side who can’t stop the goals flying in whenever they leave the Keepmoat Stadium. 27 goals have been conceded in 12 away trips.

Admittedly, the Hornets look like no great shakes themselves in 18th spot, but they have quietly gone on a seven match unbeaten run. There have been too many draws in that sequence, but the last three have been against Leeds, Blackpool and Cardiff, showing that promotion candidates are being matched. Manager Sean Dyche will have certainly earmarked this game for three points and I see no reason why it won’t happen.

Wins for Norwich, Stoke and Watford come at best combined odds of 7/1 with VictorChandler.