Three ante-post acca's for 2020-21, including a mammoth 856/1 bet to get your juices flowing

It’s that time of year when you give yourself the impossible task of predicting how the season will end in nine months time in an attempt of glory by winning an ante-post acca come May. 

Ante-post betting is a longer term bet where punters bet on the outcome of an event far in advance which has greater risks, but greater reward in enhanced odds. I love doing my pre-season ante-post bets so you have something to follow throughout the season, really good cash-out opportunities and a potential pot of gold at the end of it. In the last three seasons I’ve made a tidy profit on my ante post bets, albeit by cashing out before the end of the season.

However missed out on landing one in the 2017/18 season when I needed Fulham to be promoted and cashed-out before their successful play-off campaign which demonstrates the perils of cash-out and the ante-post bet.

I’ve spent my weekend studying the four English professional leagues, the transfer window, the managerial arena and the outright betting to see what are the value selections in the 2020/21 outright betting. I’m going to suggest three four-fold ante-post accumulators, with one tip from each league to give you something to follow throughout the season and hopefully give you the opportunity to win a bit of money at the end of it.

I refuse to be drawn into backing Man City to win the league because “it’s Man City,” so I’ve looked at the relegation market to find a bit more value. I was torn between picking Fulham and West Brom as I think both will get relegated but I’ve only just gone with Fulham after comparing the two squads and managers.

Despite having the best squad in the Championship last season, Scott Parker’s side only just got promoted and I don’t think he has the experience or defence to do something special this time around. They are 11/10 to go down which I’d much rather take than City winning the league at 8/11. 

Whenever I do my ante-post bets I like to look at the ‘to be promoted’ market which gives you more wiggle room and opportunity to win when you take into consideration the Football League Play-Offs. So my next selection is backing the Canaries to fly back up to the Premier League. Norwich were dubbed ‘one of the best teams to get relegated’ last season and I think the manager can get the confidence back to playing the brilliant football which saw them promoted as champions two seasons ago.

Although they could lose players like Lewis, Cantwell and Buendia I think they’ve recruited well in getting Gibson, Dowell and Hugill who will score for fun at this level and bring the Farke Life back to Carrow Road. You can get Norwich at 11/5 to go straight back up which I think is a smart move in adding to this acca. 

Phil Parkinson finally got a tune out of this Sunderland side at the start of the 2020 and now he has a pre-season with his team that boasts talents such as Power, Maguire and Wyke, I think it’s finally time the Sunderland sized titanic is turned to go back up the divisions. They are the favourites for League One promotion but I’m more attracted by the price of 9/4 that you can still get for promotion. 

My League Two leg of this bet is for Salford City to, like Sunderland, finally muscle their way up to League One. Despite the salary cap, they managed to lure Rochdale’s Henderson who scored 15 goals at a level above last term and the experience and leadership of centre-half Clarke who played 10 games for Preston in the Championship last season. 13/8 to go up with Bet365, I welcome Graham Alexander’s men into this quartet which completes a 60/1 four-fold.

I’ll start my second tip with Liverpool becoming the fourth team to regain the Premier League title. I honestly think the bookmakers continue to price Pep’s star-studded Man City team far too short and this is to the advantage of Liverpool backers. Despite City’s poor last season and disappointing Champions League campaign they are still odds-on to win the title, making Liverpool a really good 9/4. City may have signed Ake and Torres but I don’t think it’s enough to take on the power and pace of Klopp’s side who with Thiago would be adding a world class playmaker to feed an already frightening front-three.

Next up I’m having Brentford to build on last season’s brilliant campaign and get over the line and promoted to the promised land. The Bees may be without Watkins and Benrahma this season but I think the club are a well oiled operation and have built a brilliant structure and a team to play attractive winning football. With the signing of Toney who is guaranteed to score goals, Brentford are just behind favourites Watford for promotion but I’m happy to take the 9/2. 

Toney leaves behind Peterborough who were desperately unlucky to make the League One Playoffs last season after going on a run of seven wins in nine before the season was curtailed. They’ve replaced Toney with Bristol Rovers’ Clarke-Harris who bagged 15 last season and I think manager Ferguson has the experience and tools at his disposal to get his side promoted to the Championship like he did nine seasons ago.

Finishing this fantastic four-fold with the resurrection of Bolton Wanderers after the brilliant business they’ve done this summer. Starting with the appointment of Ian Evatt, who’s Barrow side cruised the National League playing innovative, attractive and successful football. Add League Two’s top scorer last season Doyle and the experience of Gilks, Baptiste and Delfouneso, I think the 5/4 favourites look a sure thing. 

You can get this four-fold at 114/1 with Betway which is a really decent price when you compare it to 49/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair so make sure you put your accas in oddschecker to see where you can get the best price.

Ante-post betting is all about getting bigger odds and dreaming big and that’s exactly what we’re going to do with our third acca which is an eye-watering 857/1.

For my Premier League pick I’m heading over to the top scorer market to kick-start this huge bet by backing Aubameyang to win his second Golden Boot. Since his Arsenal debut he’s scored more than Salah, Sterling, Kane, Vardy and Aguero and I’ve been really impressed with Arteta and think he’ll develop a better team which will give the lethal Aubameyang more chances. He’s behind Salah and Kane in the betting so I’m snatching the 6/1 to get him in to start the big boy. 

Next up, I’m backing Lamouchi to banish last season’s capitulation to take Forest back to the top flight for the first time in 21 years. Despite their terrible end to the season, Lamouchi had the team and City buzzing last season and apart from losing Matty Cash, he’s managed to keep hold of the majority of his team. I’ve also liked their transfer business in bringing in Taylor and Freeman and think they will be a good outside bet for promotion, which you can get best price at 9/2 with William Hill. 

Down into League One and Fleetwood are another side who were unlucky with the season being curtailed as with the form they were in they could have kicked on and gone up automatically. With Madden and Evans up top, proven goalscorers at this level and bringing in Sheffield United’s Duffy I think Barton’s boys could taste Championship football for the first time. They are 5/1 to be promoted which I think is very generous and helps boost the odds even further. 

To cap off this 857/1 bobby-dazzler, I’m backing Cheltenham Town to win promotion to League One. Cheltenham only conceded 27 goals last season, the fewest out of any team in England’s top four leagues, the perfect foundation for Duff’s men to have another successful campaign. They are behind Bolton, Salford, Mansfield, Exeter and Tranmere in the betting but I’m taking the 3/1 to finish my final ante post acca.