The busy festive period in the Championship has one more set of matches remaining and they get underway up and down the country on New Year’s Day, where 10 more fixtures take place with three more valuable points at stake for so many teams.
It is a dumper day of action in the second tier on Wednesday with three different kick off times courtesy of two of the matches being live on Sky in the UK on the main channel. The beauty of this fixture list is that the others are all behind the red button so we don’t need to miss any of the action.
New Year’s Day fixtures are as follows (3pm unless stated)
Millwall v Luton Town (12.45pm)
Birmingham City v Wigan Athletic
Bristol City v Brentford
Fulham v Reading
Huddersfield Town v Stoke City
Nottingham Forest v Blackburn Rovers
Preston North End v Middlesbrough
Queens Park Rangers v Cardiff City
Sheffield Wednesday v Hull City
West Bromwich Albion v Leeds United (5.15pm)
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Big Matches
The first Championship match of 2020 fittingly involves Luton Town as that is what their owners are called and that board will be hoping to see their side pick up some valuable points to ease them away from immediate danger. They take on a Millwall side who they drew 1-1 with in front of the cameras earlier in the season, but who have shot up the table since then. The big match on New Year’s Day though is the second live game which is the battle of the top two sides as second placed West Bromwich Albion host the leaders Leeds United in what should be something of a Championship classic.
Best of the Rest
Fulham moved back into third spot before the end of 2019 and with one of the leading pair guaranteed to slip up on Wednesday, if not both, they will be looking to take advantage when Reading are the visitors to Craven Cottage. Brentford are in fourth place in the table and they make the trip to take on Bristol City at Ashton Gate knowing their opponents will move above them with a win while Nottingham Forest in fifth and Sheffield Wednesday in sixth host Blackburn Rovers and Hull City respectively. At the other end of the table, bottom placed Wigan Athletic travel to St Andrew’s to play Birmingham City while Stoke City have a date with Huddersfield Town.
Betting
I’ll go with just the one bet to get 2020 underway on what isn’t the easiest card, particularly with this being the fourth match in 11 days for most of the division. I’m tempted by the overs in the big game between the top two and if this wasn’t at the end of such a long run I would probably indulge, but ultimately my only bet is going to come earlier in the day where Nottingham Forest take on Blackburn Rovers.
I like the home side in this one. I’ve been a fan of Blackburn all season but there is no hiding the impact of the injury to Bradley Dack and Rovers need the January transfer window to account for that loss. That isn’t going to come before this game though so with Forest looking like they are back on the up after an indifferent spell, they should have it in them to see off Tony Mowbray’s men. Forest went five without a win leading up to Christmas but they have won their last two and done it without conceding. It is no surprise that Rovers haven’t won since Dack’s injury and I’m not convinced they get anything here either.
Tips
WON – Back Nottingham Forest to beat Blackburn Rovers for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Betway
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