We have a rare Saturday afternoon where all 24 teams are in action in the Sky Bet Championship as the division returns from the World Cup break to head into the second part of what is becoming a fascinating campaign.
As with a usual Saturday in the second tier we have one match to enjoy on the TV before the bulk of the matches take place. We will need to use the usual ways of getting updates on those games if you are not going to any of them.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated – UK TV in brackets)
Rotherham United v Blackburn Rovers (12.30pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Bristol City v Birmingham City
Burnley v Coventry City
Cardiff City v Wigan Athletic
Hull City v Huddersfield Town
Luton Town v West Bromwich Albion
Middlesbrough v Millwall
Preston North End v Norwich City
Reading v Queens Park Rangers
Sheffield United v Stoke City
Sunderland v Swansea City
Watford v Blackpool
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 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.
Big Matches
The day gets underway in Yorkshire where two sides at opposite ends of the table meet when Rotherham United host a Blackburn Rovers who are in third place and are yet to draw a single game in the Championship this season. Rotherham have slid to just a point above the relegation zone and need a win here. The top two look to be away and gone in this division and both have a home game to look to extend their advantage on the rest. Leaders Burnley welcome Coventry City to Turf Moor while Sheffield United will take on Stoke City at Bramall Lane.
Best of the Rest
Watford begin the afternoon in fourth place in the table and they will be looking to stay there when the host a Blackpool side who are the last team in the relegation zone at Vicarage Road. The other two teams in the top six at the start of play are Middlesbrough and Millwall and they meet in a tasty looking match at the Riverside Stadium. At the other end of the table rock bottom Wigan Athletic will go looking for a first win under Kolo Toure when they travel to Cardiff City who are just four points above them in the table. Second bottom Huddersfield Town have been reinforcing their stock this week and they go to Hull City looking to come out of the bottom three. Play-off chasers Luton Town and West Bromwich Albion meet at Kenilworth Road.
Betting
Middlesbrough have really caught fire since Michael Carrick took charge and I suspect they will continue that good form when they play host to Millwall on Saturday afternoon. Millwall sit sixth in the table at the start of play but much of their position is down to their home form as they have just three wins in 12 on their travels this season and are in the bottom quarter in the league for points picked up on the road this term.
Middlesbrough were brought back down to earth by a classy Brighton side last week but I would be surprised if they dwell too much on that and while Millwall are effective at this level that are certainly no Brighton. Boro have Chuba Akpom in red hot form at the minute and he is going to test the Millwall back line. I don’t expect the Lions to have much of the ball here so I fancy Middlesbrough to win this one but I’ll take some draw cover given the positions of these two in the table.
Tips
Back Middlesbrough (-0.25AH) to beat Millwall for a 3/10 stake at 1.78 with Bet365
