The midweek action in the Sky Bet Championship draws to a close over the course of Wednesday evening when events at the top and the bottom of the table are under the microscope as we head into the final third of the campaign.
One of the six matches are on the main TV channel on Wednesday evening but those who have access to the red button service will be able to pick and choose which game to watch as the remaining ones are all on there.
Wednesday’s fixtures are as follows: (7.45pm unless stated – UK TV in brackets)
Bristol City v Wigan Athletic
Preston North End v Luton Town
Stoke City v Huddersfield Town
Swansea City v Blackpool
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough (8pm – Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Football)
West Bromwich Albion v Blackburn Rovers (8pm)
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Preview
The big TV match on Wednesday evening comes from Bramall Lane as second hosts third when Sheffield United take on Middlesbrough in a massive clash in the promotion race. The Blades can move 13 points clear of Boro with a win and take a huge step towards the Premier League. If the visitors come out on top the gap is down to seven points with plenty of football to play. Luton Town will have an eye on the outcome of that match too. They could move into third if they win away to Preston and Middlesbrough lose or they could be within nine points of automatic promotion should Sheffield United lose.
Two sides chasing the play-off places meet at The Hawthorns when West Bromwich Albion play host to Blackburn Rovers with a place in the top six the reward for the winners there. At the other end of the table, the bottom three all face road trips in their quest to give themselves a chance of beating the drop. Bottom of the pile Blackpool head on a long journey to Swansea City, second bottom Huddersfield go to Stoke City and third bottom Wigan Athletic head to Bristol City.
Betting
There are two bets that I like on the Wednesday card and the first of them comes in the TV game where I am expecting to see some goals between Sheffield United and Middlesbrough, two sides who certainly have plenty of goals in them and not necessarily the best at keeping the ball out of the net. Sheffield United have been full of goals at Bramall Lane this season and even put five past Burnley earlier in the campaign but Middlesbrough bring the top scorer in the league down to Yorkshire with them. This is a big match for both sides but it isn’t close enough to the end of the season to see both teams clam up and cancel each other out. With the goal output between these two teams, which was in evidence in the reverse meeting which ended 2-2 when Middlesbrough couldn’t score under Chris Wilder, I expect to see over 2.5 goals landing here.
The other bet I like is for West Brom to see off Blackburn. Blackburn have been overachieving in terms of the metrics all season and we might be seeing them slowly trend down to where they should be with Rovers winning just one of their last seven which was a pretty turgid win over a terrible Cardiff side. They have gone from 27 games without a draw to drawing their last three and two of those draws were appealing ones at Bristol City and Watford but their only away win in seven on the road was at Norwich who were in a real slump at the time. West Brom have lost two of their last three in the Championship but both were away from home. They are a different proposition at home where they have won their last six matches and not conceded a goal in any of those matches. They will be eager to put right the poor performance at Birmingham and might just have the ideal opponent to do it with. Blackburn are notorious for struggling when the games come thick and fast this season and the middle game in three in quick succession often ends in defeat. West Brom won’t need to rotate here and I think they can put an average Blackburn side to the sword in this one.
Tips
Back Sheffield United vs Middlesbrough – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back West Brom (-0.75AH) to beat Blackburn for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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