The opening set of festive fixtures in the Sky Bet Championship conclude on Monday afternoon when hopefully we have two matches to enjoy, although this round of games has already been decimated by Covid-19 and there is always the threat of a late cancellation to any plans that have been made.
If both the matches do go ahead then it is a big afternoon at the top of the table and it might also be a big one at the bottom of it as well. The good news for those who haven’t had enough football over Christmas is that both of these matches are live on TV.
Derby County vs West Bromwich Albion (15.00 – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
The opening match of the afternoon concentrates on both ends of the table when bottom of the pile Derby County go in search of three points to give their slim chances of being the drop a boost. They host promotion chasers West Bromwich Albion who will move into second place for a couple of hours should they win here.
Derby have battled hard on the pitch this season but I think everyone is coming to terms with the fact that they are embarking on a battle they can’t win. Even a win here would leave them 14 points from safety and they would have played a game more. They’ll keep fighting but it will be in vain. The fact that Derby need to go for wins could see us getting a high scoring game, although to be fair we might have got that anyway given West Brom’s ‘uncompromising’ style. That style isn’t pretty to watch but more often than not it is effective and if they are going to go up this season they need to be effective here. I’m not a massive fan of West Brom. I think they’ll get found out eventually but even if I liked them they are too short here. I’ll leave this one alone.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this Sky Bet Championship! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
QPR vs Bournemouth (17.30 – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
The second match of the afternoon focuses purely on the top end of the table where two promotion chasers meet at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium when QPR take on a Bournemouth side who are teetering on the edge of falling off a cliff form wise.
Bournemouth still sit second in the table and will go top of the pile if they win here, but while six weeks ago they would have been strongly fancied to come out on top here, one win in eight would make even the staunchest Bournemouth fan tread with caution I’m sure. The problem is you can’t really back QPR either because due to Covid issues they haven’t played a game for 22 days. They are in better form of the two in terms of results but does form translate over more than three weeks? It is unlikely. That does make me think we’ll see some goals in this game though. Bournemouth haven’t kept a clean sheet in six and injuries at the back aren’t helping them. QPR often score but you’d think they’d be a bit rusty at the back and nobody is really sure whether Africa Cup of Nations bound Seny Dieng is available for them in goal. Bournemouth will surely look to attack their way out of this slump so over 2.5 goals looks a realistic proposition to me.
Tips
Back QPR vs Bournemouth – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
