With the FA Cup fourth round taking place this weekend the latest round of matches in the Sky Bet Championship season have been heavily impacted but there are still four games for us to enjoy in the division on Saturday afternoon.
As this is a Saturday, with the new deal, two of those matches will be live on the TV for us to get stuck into. The other two matches will have all of the usual updates in all of the regular places so we can keep on top of all the action.
Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: (3pm unless stated; UK TV in brackets)
Sunderland vs Watford (12.30pm – Sky Main Event & Sky Football)
West Bromwich Albion vs Sheffield Wednesday (12.30pm – Sky Sports+)
Norwich City vs Derby County
Sheffield United vs Portsmouth
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Preview
The main TV cameras head up to the Stadium of Light where it could be a big day for Sunderland. They could move level on points with the current second placed side Burnley if they can come away from their home clash with a win over a Watford side who don’t travel great at the best of times but who have lost their last three Championship matches. The other televised game on Saturday comes from The Hawthorns where West Bromwich Albion will look to hold onto their top six spot when they host a Sheffield Wednesday side who will move into that position for a few hours at least were they to topple the Baggies.
Two matches take place later in the afternoon away from the UK TV cameras and Sheffield United have the chance to move back into second spot in the table in the biggest one of them. They host a Portsmouth side who are currently just three points from the relegation zone in a match both teams will want to win. The other game sees Norwich City looking to finish the day in the top six in the table when they host a Derby County side who have dispersed with the services of Paul Warne after seven straight defeats have left them in the bottom three of the table.
Betting
There are two bets that I like the look of over the course of the day with the first one coming in the form of Sunderland to cover a -1 Asian line against Watford. Watford don’t have the best travelling record this season. They are only 3-3-9 in away matches this term and are short of forwards at the minute with Kwadwo Baah injured and Vakoun Bayo suspended after his red card last week. The last thing you need is to go to Sunderland without much of an attacking threat because the Black Cats are in great form at the minute and especially at the Stadium of Light where they are still unbeaten this term. Sunderland seem to have pulled out a cheat code in the Championship with the signing of Enzo le Fee but they have plenty more attacking options as opposed to him. Watford concede a nudge under two goals a game away from Vicarage Road and Sunderland have the firepower to maintain that record and cover this Asian line.
The other bet comes at Bramall Lane where I think Sheffield United can get back to that trend of winning matches without conceding. Sheffield United went forever without conceding a goal at home but now they have shipped six in their last four. The caveat to that was the injury to Harry Souttar and while they haven’t rectified that completely, the signs are that Rob Holding will be a good addition but just as importantly Vini Souza is back from injury to shield the defence. Portsmouth might be perfect dance partners for the Blades here. They have lost their last six matches away from Fratton Park and only scored two goals in those games. Portsmouth have only won one away game all season and only scored 14 goals on their travels and five of those came in their first two games. Portsmouth are a much improved side at Fratton Park but haven’t cracked the code away from that part of Hampshire and I don’t see that changing here. Sheffield United to win to nil looks good to me here.
Tips
Back Sunderland (-1AH) to beat Watford for a 3/10 stake at 1.86 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Sheffield United to win to nil for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with BetVictor
