After a stoppage of more than three months, the Championship season resumes on Saturday with the first of nine remaining fixtures for each side being played out on a day where 11 matches will take place up and down the country.
There was a lot of uncertainty over the whether the season would or wouldn’t finish, but the decision has been made to end it properly and the restart takes place on Saturday. It does so with some very juicy fixtures too.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated)
Fulham v Brentford (12.30pm)
Middlesbrough v Swansea City (12.30pm)
Millwall v Derby County (1pm)
Blackburn Rovers v Bristol City
Huddersfield Town v Wigan Athletic
Hull City v Charlton Athletic
Luton Town v Preston North End
Queens Park Rangers v Barnsley
Reading v Stoke City
Sheffield Wednesday v Nottingham Forest
West Bromwich Albion v Birmingham City
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Big Matches
The Championship returns with two matches live on Sky in the UK. The first of those is a very important one towards the top of the table as the sides in third and fourth at the restart meet at Craven Cottage as Fulham host Brentford in a game which is probably must win for both if they are to maintain realistic hopes of automatic promotion. That is definitely the case for the visitors at least. The side they are both chasing are West Bromwich Albion and they are involved in the second live game when they host Birmingham City at The Hawthorns.
Best of the Rest
There are a couple of big games down towards the bottom of the table. The two teams either side of the relegation line meet at the KCOM Stadium when Hull City host Charlton Athletic while Luton Town host Preston North End with both teams needing the points. Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic are still looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone and they meet at the John Smith’s Stadium. Barnsley are bottom of the table going into the restart and could do with a win at QPR. Nottingham Forest go to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday while Millwall will look to resume their play-off charge when they host Derby County. Two teams who haven’t given up hopes of the play-offs themselves meet at Ewood Park where Blackburn Rovers take on Bristol City.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in the first round of games back but there is no avoiding one which looks priced up all wrong. I don’t necessarily think form before lockdown is going to make for much of a guide here but given how set up Nottingham Forest are to flourish on the road and how Sheffield Wednesday probably prefer to be on their travels too, I can’t believe the visitors to Hillsborough are the outsiders in the match, without taking into account the slump Wednesday were on heading into lockdown.
Playing away from home is perfect for Forest. The expectation that is building at home has sometimes got the better of them but there is none of that here and their away exploits are best highlighted by the fact that only the top two have more points on their travels than Sabri Lamouchi’s men. Wednesday languish relatively low down in the table in home results and I don’t see either of those trends changing too much here. Throw in the trend of away sides picking up better results than before and I like Forest on the draw no bet market here.
Tips
PUSH – Back Nottingham Forest to beat Sheffield Wednesday (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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