The Sky Bet Championship weekend continues on Saturday when the majority of the division are on show to start off another three game week with valuable points up for grabs as we head towards the two-third stage of the campaign.
This is what is rapidly becoming a typical Saturday in that we have three early kick offs which are all live on TV for us in the UK to enjoy should we want to. The rest of the games have updates in all of the usual places.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Cardiff City vs Swansea City (12.30pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
Millwall vs Hull City (12.30pm – Sky Sports+)
Plymouth Argyle vs Queens Park Rangers (12.30pm – Sky Sports+)
Coventry City vs Bristol City
Derby County vs Watford
Luton Town vs Preston North End
Oxford United vs Blackburn Rovers
Portsmouth vs Middlesbrough
Sheffield United vs Norwich City
West Bromwich Albion vs Stoke City
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Big Matches
The main TV cameras will be making their way across the Severn Bridge on Saturday afternoon for the South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City where there is certainly going to be no love lost. That should be a competitive clash and we might well get two more in front of the cameras elsewhere with the bottom of the table in the spotlight. Millwall will play their first home league game under Alex Neil when they welcome troubled Hull City to The New Den while Plymouth Argyle will look to give their survival hopes a bit of a boost when Queens Park Rangers make the trip to Home Park.
Best of the Rest
With the leaders Leeds United not in action until Sunday afternoon, Sheffield United have the chance to go top of the table for roughly 24 hours at least. They host Norwich City knowing a win will achieve that aim. The Canaries will be without the top scorer in the division in Borja Sainz for that match. Blackburn Rovers moved up to fifth in the table with a win in midweek and they will be looking to solidify that position when they go south to face Oxford United while Middlesbrough have moved up to sixth and they face a long trip south too as they go up against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. At the other end of the table Luton Town will look to end a run of four straight league defeats when the Matt Bloomfield era begins with a home clash against Preston North End while Stoke City will look to show improvement under Mark Robins when they go to West Bromwich Albion who have just appointed Tony Mowbray.
Betting
Preston North End have only won one away game all season so Matt Bloomfield looks to have the ideal dance partners to get off to a decent start in his tenure as Luton Town manager against. The former Wycombe boss will be aiming to open up life as Luton boss with a win at Kenilworth Road and there has to be every chance of that happening given the struggles Preston have on their travels. Preston have conceded 22 goals in their 12 away games too so away from Deepdale things don’t agree with them.
Luton dispatched with the services of Rob Edwards last week but it wasn’t the home form which was an issue for the former Premier League club. Prior to losing to Norwich City in a game they hit the post and the crossbar in on New Year’s Day, Luton had won half of their home matches this season and with the bounce and the added anticipation that a fresh outlook and new voice brings I expect Luton to be bang at it here and if they are there is more than enough in their squad to get the job done against a poor travelling Preston here.
Tips
Back Luton Town to beat Preston North End for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with William Hill
Back them here: