Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City get the weekend’s action in EFL Championship up and running with a fixture at the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday night. On Saturday, some of the highlights include Watford hosting Nottingham Forest in the early kick-off, runaway leaders Norwich City welcoming Luton Town to Carrow Road and second-placed Brentford playing host to relegation-threatened Rotherham.
Huddersfield Town v Cardiff City
19:45, Sky Sports, John Smith’s Stadium
On Friday night, Mick McCarthy’s in-form Cardiff make the trip to the John Smith’s Stadium to take on Carlos Corberan’s Huddersfield. With the other sides not playing until Saturday, three points would be enough to lift the Bluebirds back into the top six. Huddersfield, meanwhile, are not free of the spectre of relegation and are just five points clear of the drop zone as things stand.
Cardiff have been in stunning form since McCarthy arrived and have won seven and drawn three of 10 Championship games under his guidance. The Welsh side have one of the best away records in the league, and City should see off Town with relative ease on Friday. We like the look of the away side to win with a -1 goal handicap at odds of 3/1.
Watford v Nottingham Forest
12:30, Sky Sports, Vicarage Road
Xisco Munoz’s Watford entertain Chris Hughton’s Nottingham Forest at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon. No side in the Championship has picked up more home points than the Hornets so far and with Watford pushing for an automatic promotion place, they will be doing everything they can to make sure of the three points in this one.
Watford have hardly put a foot wrong at home this season, having won 13 of their 17 league fixtures at Vicarage Road. Forest have improved as the season has gone on, but look destined to finish in midtable obscurity. Watford will fancy their chances in this home game and we envisage a fairly convincing victory. There is good value in the hosts to be winning at half time and full time at odds of 21/10.
Barnsley v Birmingham City
15:00, Oakwell
Barnsley are really flying under Valerien Ismael at present and have climbed to within touching distance of the play-off places. The Tykes will be gunning for another three points when they welcome Birmingham City to Oakwell this Saturday, and given the Blues’ inconsistent form, few would bet against that outcome.
Barnsley are one of the form teams in the Championship right now and have won six matches in a row. The Yorkshire club are just a point off the play-offs with 13 games of the campaign left to play. It is notable that five of their last eight league and cup wins have come with clean sheets and we think they have enough discipline to post another shutout in this game. You can get odds of 7/4 for the Tykes to win to nil again this weekend, which looks a decent enough price to us.
Brentford v Rotherham United
15:00, Brentford Community Stadium
Brentford will be hoping to bounce back after the midweek loss to promotion rivals Norwich City when they face one of the sides slumped towards the other end of the table. On Saturday afternoon, Paul Warne’s Rotherham United visit the Brentford Community Stadium and, despite winning last time out, they could have their work cut out to get anything from the game.
Thomas Frank’s Bees have had a little slump in form in recent weeks, losing four of their last six in the Championship, but they are still formidable when on song. Rotherham had lost five in a row before Wednesday’s crucial win over local rivals Sheffield Wednesday. Brentford should be too strong for the Millers in this one though, so take a punt on the hosts to win both halves at a fair price of 11/4.
Bristol City v Queens Park Rangers
15:00, Ashton Gate
Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers square off at Ashton Gate on Saturday. These two are among the Championship’s most unpredictable sides and neither has great hopes of making the play-offs based on current form. Despite being on the road, QPR are the bookies’ favourites to get the three points in Bristol.
Defeat to Bournemouth on Wednesday was City’s eighth loss in 10 league and cup affairs. Rangers have taken one point from a possible nine since posting four wins in a row, but we fancy the Londoners to get back to winning ways here. The away victory is available at odds of 29/20, which represents a decent chunk of value in our eyes.
Coventry City v Derby County
15:00, St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium
At St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium on Saturday, Coventry City host Derby County with both sides still having to look worryingly over their shoulders in case they get drawn into the relegation dogfight. The Rams have been in good form of late, but Wayne Rooney will be looking for a positive response from his players after a humbling defeat at Cardiff in midweek.
Before their trip to the Welsh capital last Tuesday, Derby were in fine form, having picked up six wins from their last nine Championship matches. They were poor in Wales, but we fancy County to strike back with a big three points this weekend. The away win and both teams to score is nicely priced here at odds of 11/2.
Millwall v Blackburn Rovers
15:00, The Den
Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn Rovers head to The Den having lost six and drawn one of their last seven matches. As for Millwall, they have lost only one of their past 11 in the Championship and they are still harbouring some belief that they might win enough games to sneak into the top six before the season concludes.
After no wins in three, the Lions battled back from behind to seal a 2-1 home win over Preston North End in midweek. Blackburn are in dreadful form, meanwhile, and Mowbray’s men look likely to lose again this Saturday. Backing Millwall to win this one at odds of 29/20 looks the sensible choice for this game.
Norwich City v Luton Town
15:00, Carrow Road
Championship leaders Norwich would take another step towards promotion to the Premier League if they can muster three points against Luton at Carrow Road on Saturday. The Canaries are the overwhelming favourites with the bookies to win this home fixture and we can’t disagree with the sentiment.
Daniel Farke’s men moved 10 points clear at the top of the table after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Brentford in midweek. City have won six on the spin and have stopped the opposition from scoring in four of those games. We can see a comfortable home win and we’ll be having a punt on Norwich to win to nil on Saturday at odds of 6/5.
Preston North End v Bournemouth
15:00, Deepdale
Preston and Bournemouth go head-to-head at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon. The Cherries are back on track after two wins on the bounce, but can Jonathan Woodgate’s men make it three in a row this weekend? With pressure mounting on the play-off positions, they could certainly do with putting a decent run together as the season nears its end.
Preston have been in patchy form of late, to say the least, and have lost five of their past eight games. Since a home defeat to Cardiff, Bournemouth have bounced back with vital victories over Watford and Bristol City and they should have the skill and confidence to get the job done here. The Bournemouth win here is priced at odds of 11/4 which looks good to us.
Reading v Sheffield Wednesday
15:00, Madejski Stadium
Reading and Sheffield Wednesday lock horns at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday. With the Royals riding high in fifth position in the table, they’ll want to keep the positive results rolling in to stay in the play-off positions. Meanwhile, the Owls are currently languishing in the bottom three after a wretched run of form, so this is a massive fixture at both ends of the Championship table.
Veljko Paunovic’s men have had some disappointing results lately, but the Royals have picked up back-to-back wins over Rotherham and Blackburn to keep themselves in with a promotion shout. As for Wednesday, they travel to Berkshire on a five-game losing streak and are starting to look a little desperate. We think the home side will be able to turn the screw and we’ll be putting some money on Reading to win with a -1 goal handicap at odds of 11/5.
Stoke City v Wycombe Wanderers
15:00, bet365 Stadium
Bottom side Wycombe Wanderers make the trip to the bet365 Stadium to play Stoke City at the weekend. The Potters could do with the points having lost three in a row and there are no better sides to play than Wycombe in this division if it’s a win you are seeking: the Chairboys have lost 20 of their 33 games in the Championship this season.
Stoke’s play-off bid is crumbling before their eyes after three successive Championship losses but they are not completely out of it. But it is safe to suggest that nothing less than three points against the bottom club will do on Saturday. The Stoke victory is priced at odds of 4/7 and that represents decent value at this stage of proceedings.
Swansea City v Middlesbrough
15:00, Liberty Stadium
One of the standout games of the weekend is the fixture between Swansea City and Middlesbrough at the Liberty Stadium. After the midweek results, the Swans are only a point off second place and they would love nothing more than to gain one of the automatic promotion spots and forego the lottery of the play-offs.
After two defeats in three, Swansea picked up a precious three points at Stoke in midweek. Boro also won 2-1 away from home, but we fancy the Welsh side to prevail on home soil this Saturday. Take a look at the Swansea win and both teams to score at the tempting price of 9/2.