While Sky Sports make a big noise about their 10 Football League matches in 10 days there is a normal set of midweek fixtures in the second tier of English football but, as we all know, there is nothing run of the mill about the Championship. At this stage of the season the league is very much split into those seeking promotion and those seeking to avoid relegation. Whatever is on the line, we’ve gone through the fixtures to create three accumulators to hopefully bring some pre-Christmas profit.
Easy Winner – 10/11 (BetVictor)
- Over 1.5 goals in Fulham against Ipswich (1/4) – Fulham are the highest scorers in the Championship with 33 goals but unfortunately for them they’ve actually conceded 35 times. Against a good Ipswich team Fulham should be involved in another high scoring match.
- Over 1.5 goals in Cardiff against Fulham (3/10) – With Cardiff’s alarming knack of throwing away leads and the fact that 90% of Fulham matches have had at least two goals, over 1.5 goals should be a shoo-in here.
- Under 3.5 goals in Preston v Birmingham (2/11) – You wouldn’t call Preston or Birmingham the most entertaining teams in the Championship and this is unlikely to be a classic.
Medium Risk – 5/1 (Bet365)
- Derby to beat Bristol City (4/7) – Bristol City are battling away following their promotion from League One last season but they’ll find it difficult against Derby who have designs on playing their football at the top level.
- Huddersfield to beat Rotherham (evens) – Huddersfield suffered a damaging defeat against Bristol City last time out so they’ll be motivated to bounce straight back and claw their way away from the relegation zone against Rotherham who are themselves struggling just above the foot of the table.
- Both teams to score in MK Dons v Sheffield Wednesday (5/6) – Sheffield Wednesday are an improving team who have a real chance of gaining promotion but they’ll have to tighten up at the back to make the most of their impressive attacking unit. MK Dons will go for the win so both teams to score is a good betting option.
Long Shot – 24/1 (Sky Bet)
- Brentford to beat Cardiff (15/8) – Brentford have gone five games without defeat and are slowly finding the sort of form that saw them narrowly miss out on promotion last season. The Bees may find that Cardiff’s wobble of late gives them a chance to secure an important win on the road.
- Ipswich to beat Fulham (6/4) – Mick McCarthy’s work on a shoestring at Ipswich is very impressive. He’s assembled a strong squad who will once again push for a promotion spot and they could well take the three points at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.
- Middlesbrough and Burnley to draw (5/2) – Boro have been frustrated in their attempts to pull clear at the top of the table of late and Sean Dyche’s Burnley are happy and willing to turn up to the North East to make life difficult for Aitor Karanka’s team.