Championship Predictions: Will Coventry lose top spot?

After an intriguing mini-midweek of fixtures saw Hull draw with Watford, Sheffield United beat Oxford and Portsmouth postpone another home game, to the frustration of Ipswich Town.

Myself, Nick Ware and Conor Keane are back to predict all twelve EFL Championship fixtures that will hopefully take place this weekend. Below you can find our Championship Predictions for Gameweek 31. 

Charlton 1-1 QPR @ 9/2

We’ve got a London derby on Friday night between Charlton and QPR, two teams who enjoyed good wins last weekend. Charlton beat Leicester 2-0 on the road to gain an important three points as they strive to stay out of the bottom three, while QPR came from 1-0 down to beat league leaders Coventry 2-1. 

QPR have a fair few injuries right now, but despite that, I think they are good for a point at the Valley, with Richard Kone a constant threat up top. 

Nick: 1-0

Conor: 2-1

Norwich 3-0 Blackburn @ 14/1

Despite losing at Middlesbrough, Norwich are in good form under Philippe Clement and should start climbing away from the relegation zone. The Canaries have a tasty home fixture against a Blackburn outfit that themselves climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.

I’ll back the hosts to enjoy a comprehensive win over Rovers. 

Nick: 2-0

Conor: 4-0

Southampton 2-2 Watford @ 12/1

Tonda Eckert’s Saints are so difficult to predict right now. After another rocky spell, Saints have picked up seven points from their last three outings, beating Stoke away from home last time out. Javi Gracia walked out of Watford after their 2-0 home loss to Swansea, and they responded with a 0-0 at in-form Hull in midweek. I’ll go for an entertaining clash in this one, with Watford hopefully able to convert some chances on the South Coast. 2-2. 

Nick: 3-0

Conor: 1-1

Derby 1-1 Ipswich @ 5/1

Ipswich are embarking on a run of away games and will have been massively frustrated by the Portsmouth postponement on Tuesday. Derby are the best away team in the Championship, and their 5-0 win over Bristol City showed their credentials - but John Eustace will want to fix their home form. Ipswich are a good outfit, but they are missing Marcelino Nunez, so I’ll back a share of the spoils here. 

Nick: 1-1

Conor: 1-2

Championship Odds

Preston 0-1 Portsmouth @ 7/1

Pompey have picked up of late, and are now unbeaten in their last four games as they move away from relegation danger. That win over West Brom will have given them a massive confidence boost, and I think they can secure a rare away win at Preston on Saturday. PNE are winless in five in all competitions and are sliding away from play-off contention, so I’ll back a Pompey win. 

Nick: 1-0

Conor: 0-1

Birmingham 2-0 Leicester @ 15/2

Birmingham have finally fixed their away form with two wins on the road in a row, and they are looking towards the play-offs under Chris Davies. Unbeaten in five in the league, they are just five points behind sixth-place Wrexham and should have no trouble disposing of managerless Leicester. 

Nick: 2-0

Conor: 3-0

West Brom 0-2 Stoke @ 14/1

West Brom look dreadful. Now in the bottom three after Blackburn’s midweek win, Eric Ramsay’s men are in serious danger of going down. They were hammered 3-0 by Portsmouth in a relegation six-pointer where they only managed one shot on target and Isaac Price fell out with the away fans, and they look so leaky at the back. Stoke should fancy this one, although they are winless in four league matches. 

Nick: 1-2

Conor: 0-2

Wrexham 1-2 Millwall @ 17/2

Tough one to predict here. Two teams in the play-offs meet in north Wales, with Wrexham having won back-to-back league games. However, the win at QPR came in injury time and they only beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0, which leads me to believe they may come unstuck vs a strong Millwall outfit. 

Nick: 2-2

Conor: 2-1

Hull 2-1 Bristol City @ 15/2

Hull will have been disappointed not to take full advantage of their game in hand in midweek, but they were fortunate to get a point against Watford at the MKM. I do think they can return to winning ways against a Bristol City team that I think could trend downward after losing Anis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner in the January transfer window. 2-1. 

Nick: 2-1

Conor: 2-1

Coventry 2-1 Oxford @ 7/1

Oh boy. My Coventry City side are in a bit of a pickle right now after two away defeats on the bounce, but a home tie against Oxford looks to be relatively kind on paper. The home form has been excellent under Frank Lampard, and I’ll back them to get back to winning ways here, although they haven’t kept a clean sheet in eight, so I’ll give Matt Bloomfield’s improved outfit a goal.

Nick: 3-0

Conor: 1-1

Swansea 2-0 Sheff Wed @ 5/1

Swansea got a good win at Watford last time out and I’ll definitely back them to beat a woeful Sheffield Wednesday outfit at home. The Owls haven’t scored since Boxing Day, (a run of nine matches) and are unlikely to trouble the home side here.

Nick: 3-0

Conor: 2-0

Sheff Utd 2-2 Middlesbrough @ 11/1

The game of the weekend comes on Monday night as Sheffield United host an in-form Middlesbrough side that is chasing the title. Five wins in a row has them joint-top, and they are now joint-top of the 15-game form table, having amassed 29 points, or nearly two points per game over that time. 

The other team that are flying in that regard? Sheffield United. Chris Wilder has also amassed 29 points from 15 as they make a late push for the play-offs. A midweek win over Oxford has taken them closer, and I think we should see a cracking game at Bramall Lane on Monday. Score draw.

Nick: 1-1

Conor: 1-2

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