Championship betting tips: WBA, Brentford or Fulham to win promotion?
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After 45 matches stretching almost a full 12 months, this season’s Championship reaches it’s dramatic conclusion tonight.
And a dramatic ending is almost guaranteed, given automatic promotion, play-off and relegation spots are still to be decided.
West Bromwich Albion, Brentford and Fulham all have a chance of finishing second tonight. Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City and Swansea City are vying for the final two play-off spots, while Wigan Athletic, Middlesbrough, Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, Luton Town, Barnsley and Hull City are fighting to avoid relegation.
All of tonight’s games kick off at 19:30, and we’ve picked out some of the key clashes…
Brentford v Barnsley
After West Brom’s loss to Huddersfield on Friday night, Brentford could have moved into second place if they could avoid defeat at Stoke City.
But a 1-0 loss in Staffordshire means the Bees’ destiny is out of their hands. They need to better West Brom’s result tonight to go up, and hope Fulham don’t win.
Brentford are 4/11 favourites to win at what may be their final game at Griffin Park, but a resurgent Barnsley must win to avoid relegation, and will give it all they’ve got at 13/2. Both teams to score is 3/4, while Ollie Watkins is 14/5 favourite to score first.
West Brom v QPR
After losing to Huddersfield, West Brom must have thought they’d blown it. But Stoke’s win over Brentford means the Baggies can go up tonight with victory over mid-table QPR.
There’s 2/7 Slaven Bilic’s men picking up the three points they need to secure promotion, while Rangers, who have nothing to play for now, are out at 10/1. QPR also have the third-worst defence in the league, and there’s 8/11 about West Brom on the -1 handicap.
Wigan v Fulham
For Fulham to go up tonight, they must win at Wigan while West Brom lose and Brentford lose or draw.
It seems unlikely, but anything can happen in the Championship. Just ask Wigan, who found themselves 7-0 up at home to Hull a week ago, en route to an 8-0 win.
The Latics are unbeaten in four, and have been superb since the restart to ease themselves up the table. They sit 10 points above the drop zone, but with a 12-point deduction looming, another win could be pivotal tonight.
Wigan are 8/5 for what could be a massive three points, with Fulham at 3/2. Wigan’s Kieran Dowell has four goals in his last two games, and is 8/5 anytime, while the Championship’s top scorer, Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, is 23/20 to grab his 27th of the season anytime.
Luton v Blackburn
The relegation picture is as complex as they come, with the bottom side sides, plus Wigan, fighting it out to avoid the three bottom places.
Hull are almost certainly down with their poor goal difference, while Charlton have the tall order of grabbing a result away at Leeds. With Barnsley away at promotion-chasing Brentford, this could open the door for Luton to sneak out of trouble at the last.
The Hatters host a Blackburn side with nothing to play for, and as a result Luton are 5/6 favourites for three huge points.
But this isn’t a sure thing, Luton’s goal difference is 18 worse than Charlton’s, so defeat would ensure relegation barring an unlikely score at Elland Road. The pressure is off Rovers too, who are 3/1 to win tonight.
Luton’s James Collins is 7/2 favourite to score first, with Adam Armstrong 5/1 favourite to net the opener for Rovers.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
