The opening day of 2024 is brought in with another full set of fixtures in the Sky Bet Championship as all 24 teams play on a bumper day of action where there is likely to be plenty of movement in the league table.
We have two matches on TV to enjoy throughout the course of the day and then the other 10 matches will get the updates and information in all the usual places as well as on the TV where a League 1 match takes place.
Monday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Sunderland v Preston North End (12.30pm – Sky Football)
Blackburn Rovers v Rotherham United
Bristol City v Millwall
Leeds United v Birmingham City
Leicester City v Huddersfield Town
Middlesbrough v Coventry City
Norwich City v Southampton
Plymouth Argyle v Watford
Queens Park Rangers v Cardiff City
Stoke City v Ipswich Town
Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Sheffield Wednesday v Hull City (5.15pm – Sky Football)
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Big Matches
The first match of 2024 in the Sky Bet Championship comes from the Stadium of Light where Sunderland will look to move into the top six for a few hours at least when they host a Preston North End side who will be within a point of the playoffs for a number of hours if they win. The action then concludes at Hillsborough where Sheffield Wednesday will look to bolster their survival hopes when they take on a Hull City side who are looking pretty impressive this season and will look to kick on again. The top two are also on show with Leicester City having a home match against Huddersfield Town while second placed Ipswich Town head to Stoke City.
Best of the Rest
The race for automatic promotion is also in play on Monday when Southampton lead the chase behind the top two when they make the trip to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City. Leeds United are the other team in that race and they’ll be keen to get back to winning ways after two successive defeats when they entertain Wayne Rooney and his Birmingham City side. At the other end of the table Rotherham United head away to Blackburn Rovers and QPR host Cardiff City while two teams who lost out in the playoffs last season meet at the Riverside where Middlesbrough take on Coventry City.
Betting
Bristol City saw a three match winning streak snapped with a draw at Birmingham City on Friday night in a game which never got going at all but I think they can get back to winning ways when they host Millwall on Monday afternoon. To be fair to the Lions, they have had a good Christmas period with home wins over QPR and Norwich and have kept clean sheets in their last three matches but a Bristol City side who I expect to continue to improve under Liam Manning for the remainder of the season are a level up I think.
Bristol City have a big enough squad that they could have Tommy Conway on the bench from the off on Friday night and the likes of Harry Cornick never got on the pitch so if they want to make changes they have the options to do so and having won four of their last five at home they are clearly enjoying the vast spaces on offer at Ashton Gate. Millwall have won their last two but they have had 35% and 36% of possession in those games so there has been a lot of chasing the ball and that might just catch up with them here.
Tips
Back Bristol City (-0.25AH) to beat Millwall for a 3/10 stake at 1.86 with Bet365
