Saturday Championship betting preview
Coventry City v Leicester City, 12.30pm
After losing in the play-offs to Cardiff City last season, it appears as though Leicester have been suffering from a hangover since the new campaign began, taking just one point from their opening four matches. Paulo Sousa is the new man in charge at the Walkers Stadium and will be alarmed at the way his team have conceded eight goals so far.
That said, the Foxes are playing some nice football and are 21/10 (Blue Square) to win this Midlands derby at the Ricoh Arena. The visitors have now signed Martyn Waghorn on a permanent basis and the striker is 7/1 (William Hill) to open the scoring on his return to the club.
Coventry are 6/4 (William Hill) to win this match and continue their 100% record in front of their own supporters, with Clive Platt (15/2 Bet Fred) looking to score his first goal for the Sky Blues since following Adrian Boothroyd to the club.
QPR v Middlesbrough, 3pm
Middlesbrough are as big as 16/1 (betfair) to win the nPower Championship this season, so it might be a good time to back them if you think that Gordon Strachan’s team are going to come good at Loftus Road on Saturday. They have had a drab start to their campaign, managing to score just two goals in three matches, although 11/4 with Ladbrokes might be a big price about the visitors.
After all, QPR were lucky to scrape a point at Derby a fortnight ago and the Championship leaders do appear to have had some easy fixtures thus far. Blue Square go 11/10 that they continue their impressive home form under Neil Warnock and there aren’t many players in the division that have the quality of Adel Taarabt. The former Spurs man is 8/1 (Boylesports) to score the first goal of this game.
Strachan will be hoping that his Scottish contingent can start to work their magic, with Kris Boyd on offer at 13/2 (Bet Fred) and Australian Scott McDonald a 7/1 poke (Stan James) to break the deadlock.
Burnley v Preston North End, 5.15pm
We should expect a fiercely-contested Lancashire derby on Saturday night, although Burnley are overwhelming favourites at 8/11 (Paddy Power) to continue their strong start to the season by winning this clash at Turf Moor.
Manager Brian Laws was unable to keep the Clarets afloat last term, although his team have got off to a strong start as they aim to bounce back, with wins against Nottingham Forest and Leicester. In both home matches, Burnley have won without conceding a goal and Sky Bet go 7/4 that they ‘win to nil’ in this game as well.
Preston have had a very slow start to their campaign, with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth the only points on the board thus far. Darren Ferguson has voiced his frustration at the way the team are conceding sloppy goals, although you can get 4/1 with bet365 about the visitors pulling off a result that would be described as a shock.
