With the FA Cup semi-finals wiping out a fair bit of the Premier League schedule this weekend we have an extended set of matches in the Sky Bet Championship which begins with nine fixtures over the course of Saturday.
We have a slightly different schedule on Saturday with a TV game to open things up and to close off the show. That leaves seven games in the usual 3pm slot where the updates for those will come in all the usual places.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Leicester City v West Bromwich Albion (12.30pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Cardiff City v Southampton
Huddersfield Town v Swansea City
Norwich City v Bristol City
Rotherham United v Birmingham City
Stoke City v Plymouth Argyle
Sunderland v Millwall
Watford v Hull City
Queens Park Rangers v Preston North End (5.15pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for the Sky Bet Championship! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Big Matches
The compelling race for promotion is in the spotlight in the opening match of the day as we begin in front of the TV cameras at the King Power Stadium where Leicester City look to return to the top of the table when they play host to West Bromwich Albion, for whom the next few weeks is about making sure they are in good touch heading into the play-offs. The bottom end of the table takes the focus in the second TV game of the day when QPR look to give their survival chances a shot in the arm when they play host to Preston North End.
Best of the Rest
Southampton are absolutely charging at the top three at the minute and they will look to keep up that fight when they go up against Cardiff City down in Wales while at the other end of the table, Huddersfield Town will look to come out of the bottom three when they play host to a Swansea City side whose recent two wins have seen them ensure another season in the Championship. Birmingham City have the chance to give their hopes of staying up a boost when they head to already relegated Rotherham United while two sides still involved in the relegation picture meet at the Bet365 Stadium as Stoke City host Plymouth Argyle.
Betting
I’ll go with a pair of bets over the course of the day with my attention at the bottom of the table where I think Rotherham United can provide their fans with some sort of result against a Birmingham City side who don’t offer a great deal on the road. I would suggest this won’t be the prettiest watch of all time but generally when Steve Evans goes into a club he has an immediate impact and I have mentioned a few times when previewing Rotherham games that although they have been cut adrift in the division this season, they are rarely beaten out of sight at home. Only Southampton and West Brom have been to the New York Stadium and won by more than a goal this season and so it is unlikely that a Birmingham City side who have scored just 18 goals in 21 games on the road all campaign are going to run riot. You can get a +1 handicap on the Asian lines and that bet has only lost in two of the 21 Rotherham games. Birmingham had a good win over Coventry last week but you wonder how much of that was down to Coventry looking ahead to the FA Cup semi-final. Prior to that, you had to go back to October 6 for the last time Birmingham won a game by more than a goal. This line looks wrong to me.
The other bet that I like is for QPR to get the better of a Preston North End side who might well have run their race for this season. You get the impression that the defeat to Norwich City last weekend was a hammer blow for them and they didn’t really offer anything against Southampton in midweek. Preston have a few injuries to deal with as well and another lengthy trip to London a few days after a long journey to Southampton might not be ideal. QPR looked like they were going to cruise to safety a few weeks ago but three games without a win has brought them right back into the mix. They did a job on Preston in the reverse fixture though and with North End winning just one of their last five, that also being the only game they have scored in during that run, I think QPR have a great chance to get the three points which will give their survival hopes a right boost.
Tips
Back Rotherham United (+1AH) to beat Birmingham City for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
Back QPR to beat Preston North End for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back them here:
