The first of three sets of fixtures in six days begins in the Championship on Boxing Day when the entire division are in action over the course of three kick off times as we enter the second half of the campaign in the second tier.
The majority of the matches take place at 3pm as usual but there are a couple later in the evening which stand alone from the rest. All matches are live on Sky in the UK, either behind the red button in the 3pm games, or the main channel for the last two.
Boxing Day fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated)
Barnsley v West Bromwich Albion
Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City
Brentford v Swansea City
Cardiff City v Millwall
Charlton Athletic v Bristol City
Hull City v Nottingham Forest
Luton Town v Fulham
Middlesbrough v Huddersfield Town
Stoke City v Sheffield Wednesday
Wigan Athletic v Derby County
Leeds United v Preston North End (5.15pm)
Reading v Queens Park Rangers (7.30pm)
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Big Matches
The two games in front of the main channel on Thursday should be full of entertainment. We have a top of the table battle when second placed Leeds United play host to fifth placed Preston North End in a game which could show plenty about the credentials of both teams. The other live game comes from the Madejski Stadium where two sides in the lower half of the table meet as Reading host QPR in a game where both teams will want to keep picking up points to keep themselves well clear of the relegation zone.
Best of the Rest
West Bromwich Albion make the trip to Yorkshire to take on Barnsley looking to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Barnsley in decent form though and could come out of the bottom three with a win. At the lower end of the table Middlesbrough and Huddersfield Town meet in a big match at the Riverside while both Luton Town and Fulham will want points for different reasons when they meet at Kenilworth Road. Stoke City host Sheffield Wednesday looking for a result which will bring them off the foot of the table. Two technical sides meet when Brentford host Swansea City while Bristol City head to Charlton Athletic.
Betting
I’ll go with three bets over the course of the afternoon here too. The first one comes in the match I’m going to at Kenilworth Road where I’m expecting goals between Luton Town and Fulham. There were five of them when these sides met at Craven Cottage earlier in the campaign and I’m expecting them to flow again here too. Luton have shown that defensively they are not yet up to this standard but they have goals in them and they will feel they can exploit a Fulham defence that has been anything but watertight this term. There is a vulnerability about both these teams which make them attractive watches and they should combine for 3 goals and potentially plenty more.
Sheffield Wednesday are in decent form at the minute and they make the trip to Stoke City who are really struggling these days. I fancy Wednesday will get a result at the Bet365 Stadium so taking them on the draw no bet market makes a lot of sense. Almost without notice Wednesday have made their way up to third in the table off the back of four wins in their last five including successes over Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City. Stoke’s only win in their last six came against Luton and they were going nowhere there until Luton gifted them three goals. Stoke have big issues so Wednesday can get a result here.
Finally I’m expecting plenty of goals when Reading take on QPR in the final match of the night. QPR score a lot of goals but they are vulnerable at the back as well and that probably explains the 2-2 draw in the reverse meeting between the two at Loftus Road. Reading have only lost one of their last five and three of those have been high scoring while QPR have been involved in some crazy contests in recent times. Given the potential for goals in QPR matches I’m more than a little surprised that the goal line here is only 2.5. I’ll take advantage of it though.
Tips
WON – Back Luton Town vs Fulham – Over 3 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with BetVictor
Back Reading vs QPR – Over 2.5 goals for a 5/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back Sheffield Wednesday (0AH) to beat Stoke City for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with 888sport
Back them here:
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