If Leeds United want to finally win promotion back to the English Premier League, then winning this game is going to be vital. They start the weekend second, which is the final automatic promotion spot. Their lead over third-placed Sheffield United is two points and a win at Elland Road won't just take them back to the top of the table but five points clear of their opponents with eight games to go. After an inconsistent start to the year, they have won five of their last six league games including the last three, scoring eight goals and conceding none. Eight of their last ten home league games have been won, with the last defeat being by current Championship leaders Norwich City.
Sheffield United can move ahead of Leeds into the second automatic promotion place if they can win at Elland Road. A defeat will make it more likely they'll have to win th play-offs to get promoted. They beat Brentford at home on Tuesday evening, their fifth win in their last six league games, all with clean sheets. On their travels, United have only won one of their last five league games with three being drawn. This is a vital game for both teams and Leeds United can make home advantage pay and get the win.
Reading head to this game with back to back wins, the first time they have achieved that this season, and facing Leeds United at home, they will be keen to go a game better, and especially considering they are on a five match unbeaten run at home. They have two clean sheets in the last five home matches and have scored in four of the five, only failing to score in one of the five matches. Two of their last five matches at home have yielded over 2.5 goals. Reading have managed just eight wins so far and will be the underdogs when taking on Leeds, despite their fairly good home form in the last few matches. On their part, Leeds have stabilized well in the last five matches after having to go through a rough patch, and have four wins and a loss as they head to this clash. Of the last five, they have failed to score in just one game and they have just one clean sheet, while they have conceded in four and three of their last five matches have yielded over 2.5 goals. With two wins in the last seven away matches, we can’t say it has been rosy for Leeds away from home. The two sides have each won two of their last five meetings and just one of the last five meetings has produced over 2.5 goals.
Under 3
After 35 games this season, Birmingham and Villa have had 29 draws between them which really says something about the fine margins in this league. Since the early part of the season the Championship has average over 30% draws, which, across 12 fixtures sees us expecting between 3 and 4 a weekend. 3 draw on Saturday leave room for one more, and where better than a feisty local derby between two sides who haven't managed a run of decent form all season.
An inconsistent run in recent times has seen Rotherham drop to the red zone in the Championship and it will take them a win in this game against Sheffield United to rise out of the drop zone; it will not be an easy task, looking at Sheffield United’s form. Rotherham have managed one clean sheet in their last 15 matches and just two wins in the process. It has been even tougher away from home, as Rotherham are without a win in their last 19 away matches. Sheffield United are coming from a draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the derby and will be hoping for a better result here as they look to fight for an automatic promotion place. While they have a respectable gap between them and fourth placed West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield United will be keen on closing the gap with second placed Leeds United to sit in the automatic promotion slot. At home in the Championship, Sheffield United have won each of the last six, and they have not conceded in the last five matches. They have two losses and 11 wins in their last 16 Championship matches at home. In 13 meetings between the two, Rotherham have managed just one win and Sheffield United have seven wins.
With 11 games to go, it's looking good for Norwich City to win promotion back to the Premier League. They have won their last three league games scoring ten goals in the process. That's left them two clear of Leeds at the top of the table and more importantly, four clear of third-placed Sheffield United. The Canaries are flying high with 71 league goals scored this season. Only one of their last ten league game has been lost (an away game at Preston North End) and at home, only Derby have beaten them in their last 11 games with three wins in the last four.
Swansea City are 14th in the Championship but only seven points adrift of the play-off positions. It's been a rather inconsistent season for the Welsh side who were relegated from the Premier League last season. They beat relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers last weekend but that ended a run of two straight league defeats. Away form is a big problem with only one point from their last four league games. The last three have all been lost with seven goals conceded, a few more are likely here and the tip is for Norwich to get the win.
Derby have seen no win in the last five outings, badly denting Frank Lampard’s ambition to help the team ascend to the Premier League. With just three points off the top six, Derby still have a chance and their race is redeemable, as least as far as securing a playoff spot is concerned. As for Wigan, three points off the relegation region, it is crucial that they pick a positive result here. Ironically, they are the form team between the two ahead of this game; they are on a five – game unbeaten run, though the last four matches have all ended in draws. Derby’s last three Championship matches have yielded no goal, and they have lost each one of them. They have however lost just two of their last 15 home matches in the Championship which will be a big starting point in their search for a first win in five, as Wigan have no away win in the last 15 attempts across all competitions. Wigan have also not managed a clean sheet in the 15 away matches. In the Championship, Wigan have lost 11 of their 14 away matches, and this will not place them very well when they get to face Derby. In the last four meetings between the two sides, Wigan have not scored a goal and Derby have gone on to pick three wins, with one match ending goalless. Wigan have managed just two wins against Derby in the last nine meetings between the two sides, while in the overall 14 meetings, Derby have sic wins and Wigan five.
Now we’re about to see one of the division’s fiercest derbies. The Steel City derby pits Premier League hopefuls Sheffield United away to their rivals Wednesday.
The hosts are coming into this clash in great form, and they can expect to cause problems for their city rivals in this clash. While Steve Bruce is coming to the end of his first month in charge of the Owls, he’s already having a major impact. His side have managed to win their last two games, and they’ve moved into the top 12 as a result of those back to back victories. Now they need to make it three in a row in the biggest game of their season.
Sheffield United should be slightly worried, given that their city rivals could be challenging them next season if the Blades don’t go up this term. Should they miss out on promotion, then there’s every chance that Steve Bruce’s team will make a push for it next season too. However, the visitors are currently in a good position to secure a spot in the top flight, given that they went into the weekend in second, only two points shy of top spot.
While things are going well for the Blades overall, they have failed to win five of the last six Sheffield derbies. They come into this game with a solid away record, but they have failed to win over half of their trips. While they’ve had trouble in this fixture, they’ve also struggled when they’ve met sides in the top half. The visitors have seen their side fail to win five of their six trips to teams currently in the top 12.
They meet Sheffield Wednesday at the worst time, as the hosts have gone six games unbeaten – losing just twice in 15 matches. Those defeats came away to Hull and at Chelsea in the FA Cup. They haven’t lost at home in their last nine matches, a run which dates back to late November. We see the Owls coming out of this game with something, having boosted their defence in recent weeks. They should be able to hold off Sheffield United in this one.
Norwich City are the top scorers in the Championship but have only conceded six less goals than their opponents 20th placed Millwall. City may lose top spot on Friday if Leeds beat West Brom, but an away win at Millwall will guarantee them finishing the weekend in top spot. Norwich have won four of their last five league games with 14 goals scored. They have won nine away league matches and with 31 goals are the top away scorers in the division. Recent performances include a 3-1 win at Leeds and 4-0 thrashing of Bolton with striker Teemu Pukki scoring in six of the last seven games.
Millwall are through to the FA Cup quarter finals but they still have a relegation battle on their hands. It looked as if they'd turned the corner with an away win at Derby County but since then have lost to both Preston North End (the last team to beat Norwich) at home and away to Hull City in midweek. The win at Derby is their only victory in their last eight league games and it's four without a win at home, failing to score in three of them. Norwich can get an important away win here.
Leeds are wobbling and their 1-0 defeat to QPR has seen them drop out of the top 2 in the league. 3 of their next 4 fixtures are against top 6 sides so this little run of matches will probably define their season. They host West Brom who will have a great chance to get themselves back in the race for Automatic promotion if they win so they have huge incentive to take the game to Leeds. West Brom have been very decent on the road this season and they've won 8 of their last 9 away games in the Championship. I fancy this to be a very good game between two of the promotion contenders and BTTS seems a decent bet to me.
Hull’s last 6 league results don’t look too good, W1 D2 L3, but their home form has held up with an unbeaten run in the league of 7 games (W5 D2), with their last home league defeat coming 24th Nov 2018. Millwall have won only 1 of their last 7 league games (with only 3 goals scored) and with a record of 10 away defeats in 16 games I will quite happily take the odds of 2.38 on Hull keeping up their good home record and taking the 3pts from this game
Derby County are just a place above Nottingham on the log, bettering their hosts by four points and they will be keen to widen the gap, as they head to this game on the back of a poor run, with just a win in the last five matches across all competitions. Both sides have picked eight points from their last five matches in the Championship but Nottingham will be happier going to this game as they play at home, where they have picked back to back wins in the last two Championship matches and face a Derby side on a three – game winless streak away from home in the league. Derby have also managed just a win in their last five away games in the Championship and while they have scored just one goal in the last three away league matches, Nottingham have scored five in the last two home games in the league. Nottingham have however conceded in each of their last six home league matches. In the last three matches between these two sides, Nottingham Forest have not scored a goal, while only two of the last seven have produced over 2.5 goals and three of the last four meetings have ended in draws. Derby are unbeaten in six matches against Nottingham and head to head, the teams have met 65 times, with Nottingham on 23 wins and Derby on 22.
The loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup in their last match brought to an end a great run by Bristol City, which had seen the side go unbeaten in 15 matches and ahead of it they were on nine straight wins. Norwich too have done well in their recent matches, picking four wins in their last six matches and seem to have fully recovered from their earlier slump. In seven of their last eight Championship matches at home, Norwich have scored three or more goals. The only time they failed to hit that tally was in the 2 – 2 draw with promotion contenders Sheffield United. While they have scored freely in the past few matches, Norwich will have to prove their mettle against a side on seven straight wins in the Championship and has not lost any of their last 13 Championship matches. Bristol have conceded just one goal in their last five away matches in the Championship and have won four. Norwich are unbeaten against Bristol City in the last seven meetings and have won four. The first leg meeting ended in a 2 – 2 draw and it remains the only time the scores for this clash hit over 2.5 goals.
Derby County’s promotion hopes are very much alive; they are only kept off the promotion playoff zone by two points and will be hoping to climb in there after this match. Rumors linking Derby manager Frank Lampard with the Chelsea job have surfaced but the former England midfielder seems unshaken though his team cannot look back and term their last 10 matches a good run, as they have managed just three wins in the process. They are coming from a loss to Huddersfield in the FA Cup. Having earlier drawn with Ipswich Town in the championship. On their part, Millwall picked a win in their last match, an FA Cup clash against AFC Wimbledon. That win ended a three – game winless run and they will be keen to continue in the same fashion. Derby are unbeaten in seven matches at home and with just two losses in their home run. Millwall on the other hand, have a very poor record away from home; they have managed only two wins away in 16 matches. They are just two places and two points above the relegation zone and Millwall will have to dig deep to get anything from this match.
Queens Park Rangers Suffered yet another loss on Friday, falling 0 – 1 to Watford in the FA Cup, that making it three straight losses for the side and leaving them with just one win in the last eight matches. They will take a very bad run of form to this game, and playing a promotion contender won’t come with any favors. QPR have lost each of their last five Championship games, are without a win in the last seven, and won just four of the last 15 league games. QPR have also not won any of their last three Championship matches at home and have conceded four goals in each of the last two and facing the league’s second best scoring side will prove a tough task for their defence. West Brom have picked 10 points in the last five Championship matches and will be outright favorites here, having picked seven wins in the last eight away matches in the Championship. West Brom whacked QPR 7 – 1 in the first leg meeting and while the score line may not be as emphatic this time, we still expect West Brom to prevail.
West Brom have lost quite some ground in the quest for an automatic promotion place’ they are seven places off second spot and with just two wins in the last five Championship matches, they are the side with the poorest form in the top four. Their form cannot however be compared to Birmingham City’s. The visiting side in this clash has lost each of the last four Championship matches. West Brom are the second best scorers in the Championship, with 72 goals, which is 19 goals better than Birmingham. Being just five points above the relegation zone, Birmingham will also look at this game with a lot of importance. Defensively, there is little to separate the teams; while Birmingham have conceded 49 goals, West Brom have let in 48. Birmingham have actually scored no goal in their last four matches and they will be keen to change this aspect as well. West Brom are on two straight clean sheets and are unbeaten in the last three. West Brom have one win in the last seven home matches, which was picked in the last game before the international break. On the other hand, Birmingham have lost the last two away matches ahead of this and have no clean sheet in the last eight away matches. West Brom are unbeaten in five matches against Birmingham and three of the last four meetings have seen the teams produce over 2.5 goals. West Brom have an edge over Birmingham with 38 wins over Birmingham’s 31, in a run of 96 matches.