The third to last full round of Sky Bet Championship matches begins on Saturday afternoon on a day where teams can be confirmed for promotion and relegation and the title could be won on a potentially pretty dramatic day in the second tier.
There are 10 matches in total on Saturday afternoon with two of them being played out live in front of the TV cameras. The other eight games can be seen on the streaming services that each club offers so again there is no reason not to be able to watch any bets you have.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated, UK TV in brackets)
AFC Bournemouth v Brentford (12.30 – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Barnsley v Rotherham United
Blackburn Rovers v Huddersfield Town
Cardiff City v Wycombe Wanderers
Coventry City v Preston North End
Derby County v Birmingham City (Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday
Nottingham Forest v Stoke City
Queens Park Rangers v Norwich City
Watford v Millwall
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Big Matches
The first of the two televised matches comes from the Vitality Stadium where third placed Bournemouth play host to fifth placed Brentford in a match where only a win will keep the automatic promotion hopes alive for a couple of hours. The second match in front of the cameras is a huge one for Derby County as they fight to avoid dropping into League One. They host a Birmingham City side who have found enough form to pull away from danger in recent times. Back at the top of the table Norwich City will be crowned champions if they can win away to QPR but only if Watford fail to beat Millwall. The Hornets will confirm their immediate return to the Premier League if they beat the Lions.
Best of the Rest
At the other end of the table both Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers will be relegated if they don’t win and Derby County do. Wednesday head to the Riverside to take on Middlesbrough while Wycombe make the trip across the Severn Bridge to take on Cardiff City. Rotherham United can’t be relegated whatever happens in their short trip to Barnsley but both teams have something to play for there. Huddersfield Town will be safe if they win at Blackburn and Derby lose.
Betting
I’ll take one bet over the course of the afternoon where I’m taking on Rotherham United for whom this will be a sixth game in just 14 days which is stretching it by anyone’s expectations. If that wasn’t bad enough they had to play three quarters of their previous game with 10 men after Matt Crooks was sent off and he could miss this match as well pending an appeal which wouldn’t be ideal. The last team you want to face with heavy legs are Barnsley because their press is relentless and they have a real physical and direct threat about them.
Barnsley can seal a play-off spot this weekend if they win this match and Reading fail to beat Swansea on Sunday and that is all the incentive the Tykes need to get the job done in this match. They suffered a blip at home to Sheffield Wednesday recently but in the main they have been in great form of late. Daryl Dike is firing in the goals and not many are getting past the Barnsley defence. Whether they dominate Rotherham from the off or take advantage of tiring legs later in the game, I expect Barnsley to win this with a bit in hand.
Tips
HALF WON – Back Barnsley (-0.75AH) to beat Rotherham United for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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