We have reached the final Saturday of the Championship season and it promises to be a dramatic day in the second tier, with so much on the line even though we finally got the confirmation that Leeds United are the first team to secure automatic promotion.
That is the only thing that has been determined so far but there is a lot at stake on Saturday where we have nine fixtures on the card, one of which is live on TV. The other matches have plenty of other ways of staying up to date with them.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (kick off and TV in brackets)
Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic (12.30)
Stoke City v Brentford (12.30 – Sky Football)
Blackburn Rovers v Reading (15.00)
Fulham v Sheffield Wednesday (15.00)
Hull City v Luton Town (15.00)
Middlesbrough v Cardiff City (15.00)
Preston North End v Birmingham City (15.00)
Queens Park Rangers v Millwall (15.00)
Swansea City v Bristol City (15.00)
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Big Matches
The televised action on Saturday afternoon is massive and it comes from the Bet365 Stadium where Stoke City host Brentford in a clash that will see both sides scrapping for the points for different reasons. Stoke go into the game knowing that if they win the match they will be safe for another season of Championship football whereas Brentford finally have the chance to break into the top two. They will end the day in the automatic promotion spots if they avoid defeat in the match. The other huge clash comes from the KCOM Stadium where Hull City meet Luton Town in a clash where the loser will be all but down but the winner will give themselves a real lifeline in the battle to avoid the drop.
Best of the Rest
There is another match that is going to have an impact on the bottom end of the table. That comes at The Valley where Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic battle it out where the loser could end the day in the bottom three when Wigan’s 12-point deduction is applied. Elsewhere there is a Neil Warnock derby where his Middlesbrough side take on the team he started the season with in Cardiff City, the former are looking for points to stay up while the latter need them to keep hold of sixth spot. Birmingham City are still not safe and they need to win to secure their safety. They will hope it comes from their trip to Preston North End. Millwall are still pushing for the top six and need to beat QPR to keep their hopes alive while Fulham will look to stay in the hunt for automatic promotion when they host Sheffield Wednesday.
Betting
We’ve got to the stage of the season where all sorts of results can happen. We only have to look to Friday night for evidence of that. That makes me uneasy to make too many bets on Saturday. Luton were high up on my list before Hull got mullered on Tuesday night. The Tigers have to offer some sort of reaction to that abject showing as much as I don’t want to see one. Instead the bet I’ll go with is the clash between the present Neil Warnock employers and his previous ones.
Middlesbrough have stunk the place out at the Riverside in the Championship since the turn of the year. They have played nine home matches either side of lockdown and haven’t won a single one, picking up just four points from the 27 that is available. They are still in trouble but their win at Reading in midweek has ensured this isn’t must win for them. It is for Cardiff City though. If they lose this match they open the door to a whole queue of teams who are looking for that final spot in the play-offs. Cardiff have lost a couple of games since restart but one of those was to Fulham which wasn’t a bad thing. Cardiff have generally impressed in recent times and they’ll know all about dealing with Warnock and his tactics. We’ve got enough draw cover which I crave at this time of the season to back the away win.
Tips
WON – Back Cardiff City to beat Middlesbrough (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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