The festive action in the Sky Bet Championship gets underway on Friday evening when two matches take place as the league prepares to hit the halfway mark in what feels like it could be a defining weekend of fixtures.
There is no TV coverage of these matches but there will be regular updates of them via the social media feeds of all the clubs involved as well as on the sports news channels and things like that, so we can kind of keep up to date with it all.
Bristol City vs Hull City (19.45)
One of the two matches on Friday evening comes from Ashton Gate where Bristol City will look to move closer to the top six when they take on a Hull City side who are currently occupying the last spot in that exclusive part of the table.
Bristol City ended a run of four matches without a win when they beat Sunderland last weekend and they will be looking for a second successive victory here. Hull go into this match off the back of two straight wins and a third one would move them up to fifth in the table ahead of the remainder of the action this weekend. With three more matches to come within the next 10 days a win would also propel whoever gets it to offer up a strong festive period. Consistency isn’t something you would associate with either of these sides but I do think we’ll get some goals here. Hull like to play out from the back and Bristol City are comfortable playing high up so styles should blend nicely in this one. Both teams have scored in 10 of the last 13 meetings between these two and with plenty of forward options available for both teams I think that they can both register a goal here.
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Swansea City vs Preston North End (19.45)
The other match on Friday evening takes us to South Wales for the clash between a struggling Swansea City side and a Preston North End outfit who have lost their way in the second part of the first half of the campaign.
Preston were the early pacesetters in the competition this season but one win in their last six has sent them tumbling out of the top six let alone the top two and they could do with a decent Christmas period to get back in the groove. Swansea haven’t been able to get anything going this season and Michael Duff has already paid the price for that. The Swans got rid of him a couple of weeks ago and are yet to replace him. There hasn’t exactly been a significant bounce since he departed so you wonder whether they are good things at a relatively tight price here. I’m not sure I could be backing the home side at the prices but I certainly have little interest in getting on Preston so I’m happy to leave this one alone.
Tips
Back Bristol City vs Hull City – Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.87 with Betfair
