Championship on Saturday

Wolves V Plymouth

It seems that Wolves are doing their very best to throw it all away. A poor run of form has seen them lose any points advantage they had but they are lucky as Reading and Birmingham are also failing to capitalise. It seems that if one of these win, then they all win and if one loses that they all seem to drop points. Wolves are still a decent outfit and not turned over to easy at Molineaux. Luckily for them Plymouth are heading southwards themselves and 3 defeats in the last 4 and a pretty poor away record is hurting them.
Wolves are on a bad run themselves but importantly are scoring goals, its just defending where the problem lies. Plymouth though are not free scoring enough to cause problems to the Wolves defence

Verdict
Wolves finally have to get back on track and should have too much firepower for a goal shy Plymouth today. The odds are nothing to shout about but a worthwhile addition to any acca

PICK
Wolves win (1.53 @ paddy power) 6 points


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Reading V Nottingham forest

Reading like Wolves are in a bit of a rut at the moment but it can only be a matter of time before they start to play like they are capable of. Their bad run has coincided with a bad patch from Kevin Doyle and he will be fairly eager to get back on the scoresheet and get the team going again. Despite struggling for goals, Steve Coppell’s men are managing to pick up points due to a tough defence that kept three consecutive clean sheets prior to the game against Bristol City. As with Wolves, Reading have a great chance to get 3 points today and mainly because of their opposition. Forest are sliding at the moment and are five league matches without victory. Last weeks 3 – 1 defeat to Derby will have knocked the stuffing out of them and their defence has opened up lately having conceded 12 goals in six matches.

Verdict
Reading are the closest to a premiership side in the championship and are due a bit of good fortune in front of the posts. Forest have conceded a few too many lately to suggest they can make it difficult for Coppells men. Reading to win 2 – 0

PICK

Reading (1.62 @ ladbrokes) 6 points

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Swansea V Charlton

Swansea may have been knocked out of the FA cup midweek but gained a lot of admirers for the way they played against their Premiership opponents. Now that the dream is over they will have got a taste for the lime light and will be keen to push on and secure a play off spot. They attack quite well, score plenty of goals and have a strong home record. Jason Scotland is having a fine season and has 14 goals in his last 15 appearances. If they don’t make it to the premiership this year, he probably will. They are on a bit of a hot streak at the moment winning the last 4 at home scoring 12 goals in the process.
Charlton have fallen a long way from the heights of the premiership a few short seasons ago and at this stage seem resigned to a place in league 1 next season. They have been scoring goals but the main problem has been in defence where they have conceded more goals than anyone else this season. 55 goals left in, that’s 1 to 2 a game. The 0 – 0 draw last time out was their first clean sheet in 12 games and it’s hard to see them keeping a rampant Swansea at bay for 90 minutes.

Verdict
Swansea are just getting too many goals at the moment. Although defeated during the week, their confidence is sky high and at home they are a match for any team. They have beaten the best in the league at home and should take another 3 points here in their bid for the premiership.

PICK
Swansea (1.62 @ bet365) 5 points

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Bristol City V Blackpool

Bristol have made some major progress at the club since Christmas rising from 18th to fifth in the Championship table. Last weeks 2 – 0 win at Reading further underlined their confidence and they have now won 8 of the last 10.
At home recently they are just as strong and have found their scoring boots scoring 2 a game in the last 4. When you get into the habit of winning games, confidence rises, players feel comfortable within themselves and good results follow. That’s whats happening at Bristol City and though many tipped them to go down this year it looks now like they are well in with a shout to make the playoffs and give Lordburt a day out.
Blackpool are struggling for points and having to scrap for everything they can. They are unpredictable to say the least and an example of this was beating Brum a few weeks back 2 – 0 only to be hammered 3 – 0 by QPR shortly afterwards. On the road they are just as erratic and every now and then spring a good result which is just enough to keep their head above water. They have a few injuries and suspension problems today so are weakened in one or two areas.

Verdict
Bristol City have the players to win this game comfortably. If the “good” Blackpool turn up on the day then they might have trouble with them but if they are serious about a top 6 finish then these are the kind of games they should be winning, especially at home.

PICK
Bristol City (1.77 @ pinnacle) 5 points