The midweek action in the Sky Bet Championship concludes on Wednesday night when the other half of the division are on show as we play towards the end of what is still a fascinating campaign at both ends of the table.
We have a bonus second match on the TV on Wednesday evening so there is a choice of matches. The other four are all available behind the red button for those who have that service as well so if you have a bet you can easily follow it.
Wednesday’s fixtures are as follows: (7.45pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City (Sky Sports Arena)
Queens Park Rangers v Norwich City
Swansea City v Preston North End
Watford v Cardiff City
Middlesbrough v Hull City (8pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Reading v Luton Town (8pm)
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Preview
It is the top end of the table which is in focus in the two TV matches. The main one sees the cameras head to the Riverside Stadium for the second time in a week when Middlesbrough look to keep their incredible feint automatic promotion hopes alive when they host Hull City. It might be that the bigger match of the two is the one from Ewood Park where the two sides who began this round of fixtures in sixth and seventh meet when Blackburn Rovers host Coventry City with the winner finishing the night in fifth place and the loser needing help from others to have a chance of finishing in the top six.
Luton Town are now realistically the only team who can deny Sheffield United automatic promotion and the Hatters will look to move back within five points of the Blades when they head to Berkshire to take on a Reading team who will come out of the bottom three if they avoid defeat. Cardiff City could be the ones to drop into the relegation zone were that to happen unless they can get something out of their trip to Watford. The other two matches see Swansea City playing host to Preston North End, with the latter probably now in last chance saloon in terms of a top six berth, while QPR will look to give their survival hopes a boost when they host a Norwich team who themselves have to win to keep top six chances realistic.
Betting
We are at the stage of the season where teams have to take more risks than they otherwise might in the quest for the points to either keep their season alive or bolster their chances of survival and that can often lead to more goals than we might usually expect. One of the matches where I think that will be the case comes at Loftus Road where QPR play host to Norwich City. There is plenty on the line here. QPR are staring over their shoulders while Norwich can’t afford not to win.
I highlighted the issues Norwich have at the back ahead of their match at Middlesbrough on Friday night and they duly shipped five and could have conceded more had the home side not declared but there were positives going the other way for Norwich where they ran up an xG of 1.21 in that 5-1 loss so they created good chances. Something has to change for QPR because they are going into League 1 without a fight as it stands. At some point Gareth Ainsworth needs to pick Chris Willock even if he doesn’t fit the direct style he employs because he is a potential match-winner and QPR have to win a match to ease their relegation concerns. They won’t get a better chance than against a Norwich defence which is devoid of all the experience within it but Norwich could cut this QPR back line to shreds. I think odds against on over 2.5 goals here is just too big.
Tips
Back QPR vs Norwich City – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with BetVictor
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