Championship Betting Preview
The championship looks more and more competitive with each new season and the list of teams who look possible title contenders gets longer and longer.
It looks even more difficult than usual to predict the challengers, but we’re going to do our best to guide you toward potential winning bets.
The relegated teams always have to be considered as potential league winners and all three teams are at the head of the market. West Brom 6/1 (Coral), Newcastle 6/1 (Bet365), and Middlesbrough 6/1 (Bet365) all look to be well equipped to do well in the Championship.
West Brom have the experience of being here before and we think they will be one of the teams who gain automatic promotion. We have concerns surrounding Newcastle and Middlesbrough however.
Newcastle still seems to be a club in a bit of a crisis and although they have the players who are more than capable of making an impact at this level, we still think there could be a problem over their commitment. A good start could see them push on and win the title, a poor start could se them plummet to the foot of the table. The 6/1 on offer looks too short to us to take with any confidence with so many question marks hovering over them and so we’re reserving judgement on them at present.
Middlesbrough have some talented youngsters in their squad, but the Championship could be a bit of a culture shock for them. We think they will be up there come the end of the season, but we’re tipping a play off place rather than promotion for Boro.
Cardiff finished just outside the play off’s last season and they will be challengers once more. Too many draws cost them dearly last season, but at 22/1 (Ladbrokes) they look worth an each/way bet at least to finish in the top three.
Preston look to be just as strong as they were last season and at 25/1 (Paddypower) have to be worth considering. The same could be said about Sheffield United who lost in the Play off Final t o Burnley and we can see them at least making the play off’s again at 12/1 (Skybet) and they look better value to us than say Middlesbrough.
At big prices it could be worth taking a chance on teams like Coventry 80/1 (Ladbrokes) and Doncaster 80/1 (Skybet). These are two teams who may not have the budget of some of the other teams, but both clubs are ambitious and have decent infrastructures.
Doncaster finished 14th last season and we believe they can push on after a good first season in the championships and they look realistic play off contenders this time around.
Coventry can also improve but may need another season before they can be realistic title challengers, but could be an outside bet for the play offs.
Reading look a decent price at 16/1 (Coral) and should be involved and we fancy them to grab a promotion spot. Derby 25/1 (Paddypower) also have play off chance although automatic promotion does look a bit beyond them.
Our outside bet for promotion are newly promoted Leicester City. At 25/1 (Paddypower) they can provide a bit of value and we’ recommend an each/way bet on them. They have a winning mentality and a squad of players that look capable of doing well at this level and we strongly fancy them to do well.
We think West Brom and Reading could be the two teams who fill the automatic promotion places with Leicester close behind.