EFL midweek acca: Goalfest at Saint Mary's, red-hot Preston and 10th time unlucky for Cheltenham

Suggested bets

Southampton vs Ipswich Town: Over 2.5 goals

Preston North End to beat Birmingham City

Port Vale to beat Burton Albion

Peterborough United to beat Cheltenham Town

Southampton vs Ipswich Town

This game feels like terrible timing for the Saints. After losing 5-0 to Sunderland and 4-1 to Leicester, they’ll face Kieran McKenna’s fearless promotion favourites on Tuesday. The Tractor Boys have scored at least twice in six of eight matches. Southampton’s previous seven matches have averaged 4.42 goals.

Preston North End vs Birmingham City

Since securing an 86th-minute point away to Bristol City on opening day, Preston remain unbeaten in all competitions. The Lilywhites have won five straight including home wins over Sunderland, Swansea and Plymouth. After a positive start, Birmingham are winless in three.

Port Vale vs Burton Albion

We backed Port Vale to beat Northampton on Saturday and they didn’t let us down. Their fourth consecutive win leaves them level on points with Exeter at the top of the league and unbeaten in nine since their opening-day defeat. Meanwhile, Burton are 22nd and winless in eight matches this season.

Peterborough United vs Cheltenham Town

Peterborough have struggled since opening their season with wins against Reading, Charlton and Barnsley so a visit from Cheltenham Town could be just what the doctor ordered. The hopeless Robins have registered just one goal this season, which was an own goal in a 4-1 loss to Bristol Rovers.