Championship Betting Tips: Back the Lions to tame the Sky Blues | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Betting tips and predictions for the latest midweek fixture list

It's another jam-packed week of action in the Championship and Jack Critchley has picked out his best bets from the midweek card with games taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday night...

Charlton v Derby - Rams to continue fine form on road

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Charlton picked up a much-needed victory at the weekend, although the performance was far from convincing. Nathan Jones lamented the supporters for continuously urging his side to 'get it forward' in the second-half as they eventually got the better of nine-man Sheffield United. Derby are unlikely to show such ill-discipline, and they will make it much tougher for the hosts, who looked short of ideas in the final third at times.

On the positive note, January signing Lyndon Dykes made a positive contribution with an assist for Sonny Carey's match-winning strike. Charlton have notched in each of their last 10 home matches, yet the fans haven't seen their side score more than a single goal in a game since 18th October .

Derby beat Preston 1-0, yet it could easily have been two or three. The Rams have lost just two of the last eight and are set-up effectively to play on the road. They have a 5-1-2 record when visiting sides currently below them in the table and that record should continue on Tuesday.

Coventry v Millwall - Cov to struggle with Millwall's intensity

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Coventry re-established their six-point cushion at the top of the table with a vital 2-1 victory over Leicester at the weekend. Frank Lampard's side have been revitalised by the January signings and produced an xG of 2.12 on Saturday lunchtime. Cov's form has been a bit wobbly lately, although barring a 2-0 loss to Ipswich their home form has been pretty imperious.

They are the team that everyone wants to beat and they have felt the pressure of being the early-season pacesetters, but Romaine Esse has injected some much-needed energy into the attack.

Millwall produced a sensational display to beat Watford at Vicarage Road. Although they looked a little tired in the second half, they approached the game with terrific intensity, with eight of their 13 shots taken before the break. Alex Neil's side are the ultimate party poopers and they tend to enjoy playing on the road. They are unbeaten in their last five over all and, with Casper de Norre and Femi Azeez back in the XI, they are far more efficient. They could easily steal another point here.

Ipswich v Bristol City - Tractor Boys to run riot in Suffolk

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Ipswich swept aside Blackburn at the weekend making it back-to-back home victories. Kieran McKenna's men heavily restricted Blackburn with Rovers unable to muster a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. They have been impressive at Portman Road recently, winning five in a row, and six of the last eight here. As well as targeting leaders Coventry, they are also hoping to keep the chasing pack at arm's length.

They also run a ridiculously tight ship here, conceding just three goals since 21st October. One of their great strengths is the depth of their squad and they will surely make some additions before the window closes.

Bristol City appear to be far too inconsistent to make the top six for the second consecutive season, yet it's impossible to write off Gerhard Struber. He has shown tremendous energy since arriving in the south west, although his side were uncharacteristically lethargic at the weekend.

Across the last six away games, they've netted just four times and things aren't quite clicking at the moment away from Ashton Gate.

Oxford v QPR - Another low-scoring encounter at the Kassam

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Oxford have won just one of their last eight games, yet new manager Matt Bloomfield guided the Yellows to their first clean sheet in 17 attempts at the weekend. The former Luton and Wycombe boss oversaw a fairly uninspiring stalemate, but it gives him something to build on, and a second opportunity to get off the mark at the Kassam presents itself on Tuesday night.

Assuming Bloomfield uses a similar blueprint to his time at Kenilworth Road last season, he will make them tough to beat before adding a little more creativity thereafter. Yunus Konak's debut was fairly uninspired, but fans are excited by the arrival of midfielder Jamie McDonnell, who impressed at Mansfield during the first-half of the season.

QPR held on for a draw at Stoke with Julian Stephan declaring himself pleased with the point. It wasn't a vintage display from the Londoners, who haven't travelled effectively this season, and they may also attempt to shut up shop in this one. They've scored four times in five away matches, all of which came after falling behind. We may not see a front-footed approach here.

Preston v Hull - Another home defeat for PNE

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Paul Heckingbottom seemingly got his team selection wrong on Saturday as his side slipped to a narrow defeat to Derby. The wing-backs failed to show enough going forward and that meant the hosts were far too conservative.

Although they were denied a potential penalty, they failed to deal with the threat from the Rams, and didn't create enough at the other end of the pitch. It's just one win in six at Deepdale and that came against rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday, making it difficult to trust them in front of their own fans. The state of the pitch doesn't help their cause with neither side able to play free-flowing football with the turf tending to cut up.

Hull maintained their play-off position with a deserved 2-1 success at St Mary's. Hull are unbeaten in six of their last seven, and have been victorious in five of their last six on the road. Although they were given a helping hand by the hosts, they were ruthlessly clinical and took their chances when they came along.

They should take at least a point from this visit to Lancashire.

Sheffield Wednesday v Birmingham - Brum to grind down hosts

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Sheffield Wednesday haven't scored a goal since Boxing Day. A combination of their small squad and the transfer sanctions left them struggling to cope with the hectic winter schedule. They have used their two loan allowances this week with the arrivals of goalkeeper Murphy Cooper and Man City midfielder Jaden Heskey. The latter should give them some much-needed energy in the centre of the park, although Heskey's exposure to first-team football has been fairly limited so far.

At home, the Owls are giving everything and the fans cannot fault the effort of this young squad. Nevertheless, they fell short against Pompey with the visitors having far more options from the bench.

Birmingham's away form is extremely poor and they just about deserved to take a point from their weekend trip to Swansea. Consecutive away games is far from ideal, but they have a deep enough squad to deal with this energy-sapping schedule. Jhon Solis has arrived on loan from Girona, whilst Kai Wagner has settled in nicely. Striking reinforcements are reportedly in situ, although they may not be registered in time to feature here.

Brum haven't won on the road since 21 October, and if they don't collect three points here, they can kiss goodbye to their faint hopes of sneaking into the top six.

Swansea v Blackburn - Swans to edge a low quality contest

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Vitor Matos has created a well-oiled outfit who are difficult to break down. His side are yet to impress on the road but they are very effective at home and slowly creeping their way into the obscurity of midtable. The main criticism of this Swansea side is that they do not score enough goals with Zan Vipotnik continuing to do the majority of the heavy lifting this season. The division's joint-top goalscorer has 11 for the season which is over a third of their total for the campaign.

They were the better side against Birmingham on Saturday teatime with Matos somehow coaxing an above-average performance out of the enigmatic Ronald. They struggled to exert the same control once Vipotnik had left the field with Liam Cullen unable to have the same impact.

Blackburn's plummet towards danger continued on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat at Portman Road. A second successive away game on the other side of the country is far from ideal for Val Ismael's men. They have been better on the road this season, yet their injury list is far too extensive and it's over a month since they found the net on the road (including an FA Cup tie).

West Brom v Norwich - BTTS at the Hawthorns

Tuesday, 19:45, Live on the Sky Sports App+

Eric Ramsay's first game in charge at the Hawthorns produced a thriller on Friday night. Although the result didn't go in their favour, the Baggies battled valiantly, coming back from 2-0 down before failing to close the game out. Ramsay may opt to shuffle his pack here with the possibility of returns for both Alex Mowatt and Jayson Mulumby, whereas George Campbell may prove to be a better option at right-wing back. Furthermore, both Daryl Dike and Josh Maja got minutes from the bench and could be pushing for starts, assuming both can stay fit.

WBA still look highly susceptible at the back and they are unlikely to keep a clean sheet against an upwardly-mobile Norwich outfit.

The Canaries have improved substantially following the arrival of Philippe Clement. The Belgian has averaged 1.5 PPG since taking over at the club, the kind of form which would have the East Anglians comfortably inside the top-half. In reality, they are still embroiled in a relegation battle, but it shouldn't be long before they clamber out of the mire.

Ben Slimane worked effectively as a number 10, with Ali Ahmed catching the eye on his full debut. The return of Papa Diallo will give Clement further options from the bench.

Wrexham v Leicester - Chaotic Foxes to concede twice

Tuesday, 20:00, Live on the Sky Sports Football

Wrexham's four-match winning streak was abruptly ended by Norwich on Saturday afternoon. It was their first home defeat since 13th September, although the performance wasn't anything to worry about. Too many players weren't at their best, and the return of Keiffer Moore from the bench did little to alter the direction of travel.

The hosts have various options to mix things up and they are unlikely to be affected by the quick turnaround. Ollie Rathbone, Matty James and Jay Rodriguez all got minutes as subs with Lewis O'Brien and Liberate Cacace failing to get any action at the weekend.

Leicester's patchy form continued with a 2-1 defeat to local rivals Coventry. We aren't at the stage where Marti Cifuentes desperately needs a result to go in his favour, but fan patience is getting thinner with each passing week. They had some nice moments at the CBS including a well-taken team goal from Jordan James, yet they seem unable to keep the opposition at arm's length. They've conceded nine goals in their last three away games.

Southampton v Sheffield United - Another lively affair at St Mary's

Wednesday, 19:45, Live on Sky Sports+ App

Southampton's miserable run of form continued at the weekend. Tonda Eckert is under increasing pressure with his side having squandered possession and presented several opportunities to Hull. The hosts have a 0-3-4 since 9th December, and this is a tough-looking contest for the out-of-form hosts.

Despite hinting at a change of formation, Eckert has stuck rigidly to a 3-4-3 in the Championship, and it has failed to pay dividends. They have conceded six goals across their last two outings and failed to contain League One Doncaster in the FA Cup.

Sheffield United were always likely to face an uphill challenge with just nine men on the field. The Blades had produced some nice moments prior to the double dismissal, and it is just one of those games which simply has to be written off as an anomaly. Chris Wilder's side shouldn't lose any confidence from that display, and they should be able to take advantage of the fragile hosts.

Nevertheless, the Blades' defending, particularly on the road, is less than convincing and they are unlikely to keep a clean sheet.

Watford v Portsmouth - Hosts to bounce back from weekend disappointment

Wednesday, 19:45, Live on Sky Sports+ App

Watford suffered a rare home defeat at the weekend as they struggled to contain an energetic and determined Millwall outfit. The Hornets were unbeaten here since September and they rarely slip up at Vicarage Road. Many home fans admitted that the Lions are one of the best sides to visit Hertfordshire this season and very few teams are unlikely to arrive with quite as much energy. They have an opportunity to put that right on Wednesday night.

There were signs of improvement after the break and Javi Gracia has the luxury of being able to rotate for this fixture. The Watford boss admitted that his side need to be better at managing tight games and this may be a good test of their credentials.

Portsmouth could be forgiven for having one eye on the weekend. John Mousinho's side will come up against their out-of-form rivals Southampton and the boss may opt to keep some members of his injury-hit squad fresh for the derby. Mousinho hasn't been averse to prioritising fixtures and rotating accordingly. This won't be easy, and, having collected maximum points at the weekend, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them take their foot off the gas a little here.

Stoke v Middlesbrough - Boro to potentially edge a tight one

Wednesday, 20:00, Live on Sky Sports Football

Stoke are a good side and they are incredibly tough to beat. Manager Mark Robins sets them up effectively and they have dangerous players such as Sorba Thomas and Jun-Ho Bae. Their achilles heel is their inability to score and they have netted just four times in their last six games. Divin Mubama, although not prolific, went off with a suspected broken leg at the weekend, further depleting their forward options.

The Potters are excellent at restricting their opponents, and arrive off the back of four consecutive clean sheets in league and cup. When hosting top six sides, they have managed to make themselves fairly obstinate and managed to keep Coventry off the scoresheet until the 86th minute.

Middlesbrough were involved in a topsy-turvy encounter at the Hawthorns, but this will surely be a completely different task for Kim Hellberg's men. Boro will have to be patient and clinical if they wish to take all three points back to Teesside and there's a small chance that they may have to settle for a draw. We have seen their wasteful side this season and they cannot afford to squander opportunities, as they may not come around too often on Wednesday night.

Back Millwall Win or Draw Double Chance (vs Coventry) @ 1/1