The Sky Bet Championship heads into the international break with a full set of fixtures on Saturday afternoon as teams go in search of three points which will make them feel pretty good heading into the two weeks off.
As is always the case on a Saturday we have one match on the TV to enjoy. That comes later in the day rather than earlier as Sky focus on the events in Manchester in the usual lunchtime slot. The usual methods are available to keep up to date with the other games.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Barnsley v Hull City
Birmingham City v Reading
Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield United
AFC Bournemouth v Swansea City
Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town
Coventry City v Bristol City
Luton Town v Stoke City
Millwall v Derby County
Nottingham Forest v Preston North End
Peterborough United v Fulham
West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough
Blackpool v Queens Park Rangers (17.30 – Sky Football)
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Big Matches
The televised action comes late in the afternoon at Bloomfield Road where two sides in and around the top six meet when Blackpool look to put their midweek defeat behind them when they host a QPR team who start the day in fifth and could end it in fourth. AFC Bournemouth lost their unbeaten start to the season in midweek but they are at home again as they look to bounce back from that. They host Swansea City while second placed Fulham, who will go top if they win and Bournemouth don’t, make the trip to Peterborough United.
Best of the Rest
West Brom will look to shake this win-loss run they are on when they host Middlesbrough for whom the morning papers are suggesting Neil Warnock will be sacked if they lose this match. Coventry City and Stoke City start the day in the top six. The former host Bristol City while the latter make the trip to Kenilworth Road to face former manager Nathan Jones and his Luton Town side. At the other end of the table rock bottom Derby County head to Millwall while the other two teams in the bottom three meet at Oakwell when Barnsley welcome fellow Yorkshire outfit Hull City.
Betting
I’ll head into the international break with just the one bet. I didn’t think Birmingham City would be a betting proposition without Tahith Chong but they host a Reading side whose injuries are beginning to mount up and who have completely collapsed since they lead Blackpool 2-0 only to lose 3-2 a couple of weeks ago. They go into this match off the back of four defeats on the trot and with their coach having had Covid-19 issues preparation isn’t likely to have been fantastic for this one.
I doubt Birmingham are anything special without their star on loan talent but they have won their last three matches, pretty convincingly, and saw off a couple of teams who right now look a lot better than Reading do. The one thing Birmingham will always be is hard to play against with their physicality and high work rate. If they can keep John Swift quiet they should have enough within their ranks to pick up a fourth straight win here.
Tips
Back Birmingham City to beat Reading for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
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