The EFL Championship gets rolling on New Years’ Day, and Paddy’s EFL tipster, James O’Rourke, has dived into the action to find four value punts in a tasty Acca. Let’s get right to it.
Championship Betting Tips
12:30pm Plymouth v Bristol City – Over 2.5 goals: Yes
12:30pm QPR v Watford – QPR / Draw No Bet
3pm Luton v Norwich – Luton to win and Both teams to Score: Yes
8pm Sunderland v Sheffield United – Sheffield United / Draw No Bet
- An Accumulator with these bets pays at approximately 30/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Plymouth v Bristol City – Over 2.5 goals: Yes
TV: Sky Sports+
Plymouth saw their winless run extended to nine after losing at Oxford at the weekend. This leaves them bottom of the Championship table, but they should at least be looking forward to the game, in one sense. They’ll most certainly be glad to not be on the road again. Their away form is too bad to be true, and it would appear Plymouth’s only realistic prospect of points is when performing at Home Park. Argyle have claimed 16 of their 18 points in home fixtures.
Bristol City certainly won’t be easily beaten. They are just one of those sides capable of beating anyone on their day. At the same time, it’s an outfit that isn’t one to completely trust. The hosts will fancy their chances, but The Robins travel in high spirits given they’re on a run of back-to-back victories; both home triumphs without conceding.
The safer call here is to bet along the line of goals as opposed to having maximum faith in either team. Goals are never a bad shout when Plymouth are involved, especially as their league battles average 3.17 goals across the campaign. That figure increases to 3.5 when purely focusing on home league fixtures. The league table may suggest otherwise but an entertaining battle should await. Plymouth have lost once in eight at home, too, netting two or more themselves in six of those.
QPR v Watford – QPR / Draw No Bet
TV: Sky Sports+
QPR v Watford promises to be quite a feisty New Years’ Day lunchtime affair. Both meetings last season produced a minimum of five yellow cards each, so one suspects referee Stephen Martin could have a busy afternoon. Both clubs enter this clash with frustrations of their own following how recent matches ended. QPR conceded in the 89th minute away to Norwich when leading, to eventually draw 1-1. The Hornets would suffer a shock home loss to struggling Cardiff; their first home defeat of the campaign. This should further fuel the likely competitive emotions that are set to be on show.
Preference is for the home team however. Martín Cifuentes’ men might be some 11 points behind their opponents in the league standings, however they are a team with momentum behind them. The opening months of the campaign were too bad to be true for them, yet they’ve turned matters around convincingly. Based on their last ten league contests, they would be a play-off contender along with Watford. Furthermore, they’re enjoying a three-game winning streak at Loftus Road, including a convincing 3-0 success versus Norwich.
Despite losing at home to Cardiff, Watford’s home form is the main reason for their strong season to date. They’ll be worried if that tails off as on the road where they are a completely different outfit. Tom Cleverley’s men have earned just the two away league victories all season. To further compile upon this, they’ve also conceded an average of 2.09 goals on their travels in Championship action.
Luton v Norwich – Luton to win and Both teams to Score: Yes
TV: Sky Sports+
Similarly to Plymouth, Luton are another Championship side that have major issues playing away. They therefore will be rather glad to be back at Kenilworth Road on January 1st as they entertain Norwich, who are another team less than convincing away from their own stadium. The Hatters were moments away from claiming what would’ve been a solid draw at Swansea on Sunday, yet conceded late when failing to hold on with ten men. It was a third loss in four for Luton; all of those losses being away fixtures. However, it is one setback across their last ten at home, with four of the last five resulting in three points.
Norwich failed to beat QPR at home in their previous encounter. That would’ve felt like two points dropped pre-match, yet netting a late equaliser at least ensured claiming a point as opposed to none. It places a little pressure on them here to get something, particularly as they’ve won only once in six. Furthermore, The Canaries are winless in eight on their travels, with only Sunderland in that run being classed as a promotion candidate. Something needs to change for them in that regard, however Luton will really pile it on here, meaning a tricky afternoon awaits.
A chance is taken on Norwich to at least make this competitive, although they’ll likely come off second best. Rob Edwards’ team have claimed just the five league clean sheets out of a possible 24, so they are anything but bulletproof defensively. Still, they can be relied upon at home, whereas Norwich are just a little too in-and-out at present, so cannot be so trustworthy.
Sunderland v Sheffield United – Sheffield United / Draw No Bet
TV: Sky Sports Football
Sunderland suffered only their fourth league loss of the season on Sunday when falling the wrong side in a one-goal match at managerless Stoke. That was a very poor outcome for Régis Le Bris’ team, meaning it is now just four wins over their previous 12. They are having to work very hard to remain in close contention with the top clubs. One suspects if they will be able to find another gear again, but they are certainly capable. Sheffield United is a tough opponent for them to face, however, The Black Cats still have an unbeaten home record to protect. They did lose the earlier season head-to-head meeting, whilst they’ve also dropped points to strong clubs like Leeds, Blackburn (twice), Watford and West Brom.
Sheffield United have had injuries bite them hard across the season and another recent setback won’t please manager Chris Wilder. Harry Souttar has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign, but that just allows the talented Anel Ahmedhodžić to walk into back line. It’s a squad with good depth, and that probably gives them the edge over a Sunderland team that hasn’t made many changes to a largely settled eleven. That could easily count against them across this traditionally hectic schedule around the Christmas and New Year period.
Also, bear in mind, The Blades have lost just once in 13, which came in a recent home game with high-flying Burnley. They’ll also be particularly motivated to end a two-match winless run, which is anything but a disaster, but they hold high standards for themselves at this level. They can be backed to at least avoid defeat here, especially with Sunderland drawing four of their last seven at The Stadium of Light.
EFL Championship betting tips
12:30pm Plymouth v Bristol City – Over 2.5 goals: Yes
12:30pm QPR v Watford – QPR / Draw No Bet
3pm Luton v Norwich – Luton to win and Both teams to Score: Yes
8pm Sunderland v Sheffield United – Sheffield United / Draw No Bet
- An Accumulator with these bets pays at approximately 30/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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