After the drama of the midweek action in the Champions League round of 16, the focus is back on the Premier League this Saturday when fourth-placed Manchester City visit third-placed Nottingham Forest in the first of six top-flight games.
The Scottish Cup quarter-finals continue north of the border while there are top-quality fixtures across Europe.
We have a tip for Brighton v Fulham, plus picks in Scotland and Spain among our three favourite bets of the day.
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Best football bets for Saturday
Bet of the Day – Brighton to beat Fulham @ 20/21
Fulham have been excellent on the road in recent weeks but their strong away run could come to an end against a buzzing Brighton team.
The Cottagers have won their last three Premier League away games at Leicester, Newcastle and Wolves, while progressing despite two away draws in the FA Cup with a 2-1 success at League One Wigan and a shootout win at Old Trafford last week following a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
The Newcastle victory was the most impressive by some distance and Fulham’s other recent victims are all below Brighton in the standings.
Albion clearly had a wake-up call with their 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest last month as after that they rattled off four successive wins, including two over Chelsea, before beating Newcastle after extra-time in the FA Cup on the road last week.
With only two defeats in their last 14 games, Fabian Hurzeler has Brighton on the right track again and they should be able to pull four points clear of Fulham in the table.
Special of the Day – Over 4.5 goals in Aberdeen v Queen’s Park @ 11/2
The Scottish Cup quarter-finals are being played one per day over the weekend, with Aberdeen hosting Scottish Championship side Queen’s Park in Saturday’s match.
Queen’s Park pulled off the upset of the tournament when knocking out mighty Rangers with a 1-0 win at Ibrox in the last round with a classic smash-and-grab success.
Aberdeen have had a rollercoaster of a season with a fantastic start before losing their way entirely from the end of November until a recent revival.
The Dons should avoid the same fate as Rangers, as the odds suggest, but it may be worth taking a chance on this cup tie providing plenty of entertainment.
There have been 10 goals in Aberdeen’s last two games, a 5-1 defeat by Celtic and a 2-2 draw with Dundee United, while Queen’s Park have won 4-0 and lost 3-2 in their last two outings.
The teams met in the League Cup in August, when Aberdeen didn’t score the winning goal until the 90th minute, but they won the shot count 14-7 in that match and took eight of the nine corners. If they can make an early breakthrough this time, the goal count could climb.
Long Shot of the Day – Leganes to beat Celta Vigo @ 19/4
Leganes boosted their chances of avoiding relegation from La Liga with a 1-0 home win over Getafe last Sunday and they could prove a good value bet to follow up with an away success against Celta Vigo.
Leganes have a somewhat baffling away record in that they have only one road win in the league, but it came against leaders Barcelona by a 1-0 scoreline in December.
The visitors have lost only five of their 13 away league games, though, with seven draws hampering their attempt to climb away from the lower reaches of the table.
They won twice on the road in the Copa Del Rey before going out of that competition to Real Madrid, and had one of their best results of the season when they beat Celta Vigo 3-0 at home in October.
The home side are unbeaten in four games but have won only two of their last nine matches and Leganes’ chances may be stronger than the odds suggest.
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