Championship betting tips: Leeds Utd to beat Baggies; Sheffield Utd to draw
Matchday 35 is now upon us, and with every passing game the stakes get even higher in this ever-chaotic Championship season.
Sports News Blitz’s resident Championship tipster Ethan Pitts has picked a handful of the best games this weekend and selected some bets for you.
Sunderland vs Sheffield Wednesday
We start this week's selections off in Sheffield as high-flyers Sunderland travel down to Hillsborough.
The last week has been somewhat of a nightmare for the Mackems.
After being 15 minutes away from a statement win at Elland Road, a late collapse and a further lacklustre display against Hull means their automatic hopes are now sparse.
They travel down to a Sheffield Wednesday team that are also in a tough patch of form, winning just one of their last five games.
With both sides desperate to right their recent wrongs, it's hard to envision either side sitting back on Friday night.
With Wednesday averaging one of the highest xG’s at home this season, and Sunderland having a very high xG away from home, I’m predicting a game filled with goals.
For that reason I will be taking both teams to score as my first selection in this game.
My second selection is once again involving Wilson Isidor.
Isidor’s exhilarating recent form has been awarded with a permanent deal, which has led to his confidence being at an all-time high.
I’m taking the Frenchman to have a shot-on-target, a line which he has hit in his last six away matches.
Suggested bet: BTTS and Wilson Isidor to have a shot on target at 17/10 (Bet365)
READ MORE: FA Cup betting tips: Cardiff City to score, and banter club Manchester United to serve up more chaos
Leeds United vs West Brom
Advancing onto our second selection this weekend, we see Elland Road play host to Tony Mowbray’s free-flowing West Brom.
Leeds never like to make things easy, but if it wasn’t already clear after Monday’s away win at Bramall Lane, this team is far and above the team to beat in this division.
Leeds are currently unbeaten in their last 16 Championship games – yes, 16 games.
They are also unbeaten at Elland Road for over five months in what has become standard procedure.
Despite West Brom being a perennial play-off contender, I’m taking Leeds to beat West Brom at the weekend.
My second selection for this game is West Brom to have more cards than Leeds.
At Elland Road especially, Leeds tend to dominate possession and therefore create more big chances to get cynically taken away from them.
In last year's fixture at Elland Road, West Brom accumulated five yellow cards.
Suggested bet: Leeds to win and West Brom to have more cards at 5/4 (Bet365)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Man Utd news: Alejandro Garnacho’s reaction raises questions about Ruben Amorim’s authority at Manchester United
Blackburn Rovers vs Norwich City
Flying into our third selection, we see the Canaries travel down to Ewood Park with fellow play-off contenders Blackburn playing hosts.
It was announced this week that Blackburn have appointed Valerien Ismael as their successor to John Eustace.
Ismael divides opinion throughout the Championship, as his amazing work at Barnsley has been outshone in recent times by unsuccessful stints at West Brom and Watford.
The term ‘new manager bounce’ seems to get thrown about a lot nowadays, especially if you’re a Watford fan.
However, in this instance, I believe the presence of a new manager will give Ewood Park a significant boost come Saturday.
Adding onto this, Blackburn have accumulated 32 points from 17 home matches this season, leaving them with the sixth best home points tally in the division.
Anchored by the analysis above, the odds of a Blackburn win at 8/5 is something I cannot turn my nose up at.
Suggested bet: Blackburn to win at 8/5 (Betfred and SkyBet)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL NEWS: 76% of fans want more women’s football coverage, survey finds
QPR vs Sheffield United
Concluding this week's Championship selections, we see Sheffield United travel down to London where QPR welcome them.
Chris Wilder and his side will still be reeling from the chaos of Monday night, but there’s no time to rest in this league as automatic promotion still lies in their hands.
Coming into this game, Sheffield United currently sit at the top of the Championship away table.
Under Chris Wilder, no team is more adept at going to tough places and picking up points.
And for this reason I can’t see them losing this game.
My second selection will be both teams to score.
Despite United having a fantastic record of goals conceded away from home, QPR also have a great home record of scoring at least a goal a game – doing so in over 85% of their games this season.
The visitors will need their attack to be on form if they are to get past a vibrant QPR side.
Suggested bet: Sheffield United to draw or win and BTTS at 11/8 (Bet365)
Combined betting accumulator odds: 33.73/1 (Bet365)
