The slog of the Championship season is upon us and as ever it will be tough to pick outright winners with so many competitive teams, so as ever, goals will be my central focus, especially in the early part of the season with 6 new teams in the the division from opposite ends of the spectrum. With only 5 managers still in charge from the beginning of last seasons campaign, we can be assured that plenty of changes will have taken place throughout almost all of the teams involved in this grueling 24 team league. I expect Burnley to be the strongest of the relegated sides with a strong continuity maintained in their squad while Hull under Steve Bruce should also mount a promotion push given their managers past success in the division (3 previous promotions) but a major rebuilding job will be necessary at QPR and I don't expect a major challenge from the Londoners in terms of promotion this year with plenty of changes to their playing squad. With so many big teams in the division, it's never easy to tell who might emerge as the strongest and in the case of last season it was none of them, as little Bournemouth emerged and rose to the top to steamroller the division with a brand of exciting football that won plenty of hearts across the country. I expect their displays in the Premier League this season to increase their popularity across the world.
Derby, Forest and Leeds are just 3 of the sleeping giants in the division and all 3 will be hoping this is the year they can get back to "where they belong". Derby in particular have much to prove having lead the division for much of last season only to bottle it in the final weeks of the campaign. Former Real Madrid assistant manager Paul Clement should bring an ambitious and attacking approach to a team that have plenty of quality in the attacking positions. Brentford, Middlesrbrough and Ipswich were all unlucky losers in the play-offs and they will look to go one step further this season although in the case of Brentford, that might be easier said than done with their highly impressive manager Mark Warburton departing for Rangers as the club undertakes a "continental approach" to it's recruitment policy. It should be an increasingly close and competitive division once again, and I am loathe to bet too much on these early games with no form or up to date stats to go on so my bets will probably be somewhat limited until we begin to see some sign of form and patterns emerging throughout the division. Here are today's fixtures and my best bets. 13:00 Cardiff vs Fulham - Predictions 2.1- Best Bets - No bet It's an early game so I am going to give it a miss. 13:30 Leeds vs Burnley - Predictions 1.1- Best Bets - No bet Same as Cardiff. Too early to make it into my best bets. 16:00 Bolton vs Derby - Predictions -1.2 Best Bets - BTTS @4/5, Derby to win @21/20 Neil Lennon did a reasonable job last season at Bolton but the team struggled towards the tail end of the season and under a limited budget, it could be another tough campaign for the former Celtic boss. Derby are one of the big favourites for promotion and with a highly experienced coach in Paul Clement coming in from Real Madrid to replace Steve McClaren, they should remain an attractive team to watch this season with plenty of quality in their attack with the likes of Darren Bent and Johnny Russell. I quite fancy a BTTS match here with 9 of Bolton's last 12 home fixtures last season going that way and while Derby might just nick it, we could see a few goals with the visitors only keeping 1 clean sheet in their last 9 away games last season as well. Derby have plenty of fire power in attack and for that reason, they should be strong contenders again this season and they might just take the 3 points here. 16:00 Sheffield Wednesday vs Bristol City - Predictions 1.1- Best Bets - no bets New Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal has made 11 summer signings and all of them will be in contention to make their debuts following the sacking of manager Stuart Gray. Bristol City are an attractive side and come into the division with plenty of confidence and they could well take a point here. Wednesday were draw specialists last season but I have not much confidence in any bets here so with that being said, there will of course, be no bets on this fixture. 16:00 Brentford vs Ipswich - Predictions 1.1- Best Bets - BTTS @4/6 Two of last season's beaten play-off semi finalists and both will be looking to go one step further this season but given the quality in the division, that might be easier said than done. Brentford have lost their management team of Warburton and Weir to Rangers and it is doubtful as to whether the hosts can build on what was a terrific season last year with much of their progress down to the aforementioned management team who are already impressing north of the border. Ipswich under Mick McCarthy will be strong and in Daryl Murphy they have a man who knows his way to the back of the net but without any major investment, it will be tough for Mick's men to even match what they achieved last time around. This should be a closely fought contest and BTTS has a good chance with 7 of Brentfords last 9 home fixtures following the pattern while Ipswich saw 9 of their last 12 away fixtures also finishing with BTTS. BTTS is 4/5 here and seems likely given that Ipswich managed to score in 20 of their 24 away games last season while Brentford managed the same numbers from their home games. Both of last seasons meetings between these 2 saw BTTS and I expect a repeat here and a share of the spoils to go with it. BTTS is priced @ 4/6. 16:00 Rotherham vs Milton Keynes Dons - Predictions 1.2- Best Bets - MK Dons draw no bet @4/5 A tough one to call here with Championship debutants MK Dons heading to a Rotherham team that only just about managed to survive in the division last season. The hosts have made plenty of changes and are likely to field an entirely new defence against a side that should be full of confidence and energy who have maintained their continuity and much of the same team that one promotion last time around. In Matt Derbyshire, Rotherham have 1 player who can make the difference but I have a sneaky feeling the Dons might just sneak the points here at 13/8. The better option could be to back the visitors on the "draw no bet" category @ 4/5. 16:00 Hull vs Huddersfield - Predictions 2.0- Best Bets - Hull to win @7/10 Hull start amongst the favourites for promotion and with good reason with most of their Premier League squad retained and under the guidance of Steve Bruce, a man who has 3 previous promotions from the Championship in his CV, they should be right up at the top end of the table come May. In Huddlestone, Jelavic, Akpom, Aluko, Robertson, Meyler and others, they have plenty of Premier League quality and I can't see past them winning today but given it's the first day of the season, and the struggles that relegated sides can sometimes have when they adjust to the new lesser division, means I will likely be giving this one a miss from my best bets. 16:00 Birmingham vs Reading - Predictions 0.0- Best Bets - no bets Two of the more inconsistent teams in the league last season and for that reason I am not going to look at this one. No bets. 16:00 Blackburn vs Wolverhampton Wanderers - Predictions 1.2- Best Bets - BTTS @8/11 I expect a decent encounter here between 2 teams that narrowly missed out on the play-offs last time around. Blackburn have lost Rudy Gestede to Villa and Josh King to Bournemouth in attack so they might struggle for goals until 1 or 2 replacements are found. Goal kind Jordan Rhodes remains but his future is also in doubt although he should start today and will be desperate to show potential suitors exactly what he is capable of. Wolves have lost their star man Bakary Sako but Benik Afobe is a man who knows how to score a goal and Wolves should manage it today against a Blackburn side that saw 7 of their last 10 home fixtures seeing BTTS. Wolves were also fairly prolific in this market with 6 of their last 7 away games also seeing my favourite outcome. Wolves could nick it but I expect both to hit the net in a decent match-up. 16:00 Charlton vs Queens Park Rangers - Predictions 2.1- Best Bets - Charlton to win @23/10 A London derby to kick things off for these teams and I fancy a home win for Charlton who could catch this QPR team cold following last seasons capitulation which saw them relegated without much fuss. Charlton were hard to beat at times last season and I expect them to give QPR a tough reintroduction to life in the Championship. Still, this is more of a suggested bet, than a best bet and is unlikely to make it into my final selections later today. Bo's Suggested Bets Brentford v Ipswich - BTTS @4/6 Bolton v Derby - BTTS @4/5 Derby to beat Bolton @21/20 MK Dons to beat Rotherham, draw no bet @4/5 Hull to beat Huddersfield @7/10 Charlton to beat QPR @23/10 Blackburn v Wolves - BTTS @8/11 Draws Brentford v Ipswich Shef Wed v Bristol City Comments are closed.
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