Championship Predictions: Promotion clash at Portman Road

The mini midweek round of fixtures certainly delivered in the Championship as Ipswich Town lost 2-0 to Portsmouth, while Southampton landed a huge win over Blackburn Rovers in their bid to catch the Tractor Boys. 

It’s Gameweek 43 now, with the season coming to an entertaining close. Below, myself, Conor and Nick resume our duel to finish top of the Championship Predictions table.

Blackburn 1-2 Coventry @ 13/2

Coventry need just one point to confirm that they are a Premier League club again after 25 years of waiting, and they can win the title with six more. They travel to a Blackburn side ravaged by injuries after their long midweek trip to the South Coast, as they lost 3-0 to Southampton. The away side can win this one, by a narrow margin.

Nick: 0-2

Conor: 0-1

Portsmouth 1-0 Leicester @ 6/1

A pivotal game at the bottom. Pompey landed a massive three points against Ipswich on Tuesday night to take them four points clear of the bottom three and they could bury Leicester on Saturday with another three points. 

Having taken six points from two games against promotion-chasing Middlesbrough and Ipswich, I’m backing Pompey to get another win against this poor Leicester outfit. 

Nick: 2-1

Conor: 1-0

Millwall 2-0 QPR @ 13/2

Millwall still have a chance of second place after Ipswich’s midweek defeat and they should be able to win this London derby against a hit and miss QPR side. Alex Neil has promotion experience, and could cook up something special again at the Den.

Nick: 1-0

Conor: 2-0

Derby 1-1 Oxford @ 6/1

Derby’s defeat to Southampton last time out has left them five points off the play-offs with four to play. Their chances of a top-six finish are fading, and they will likely have to win their last four games to make it, starting with Oxford at home. 

However, the U’s won last time out and are two points from safety - fighting for their lives. Matt Bloomfield’s team are hard to beat, so I’ll back them to take a point from Pride Park. 

Nick: 2-1

Conor: 0-1

Championship Odds

Swansea 1-2 Southampton @ 6/1

Southampton. What more can we say about them right now. On the charge for second place, Tonda Eckert’s side have now won seven games in a row and are unbeaten in 18. A 3-0 win over Blackburn has taken them within three points of Ipswich in second, and they have to play each other in their penultimate fixture. 

Obviously I’m going to back them to win here, but I’ll give Swansea and Zan Vipotnik a goal.

Nick: 2-2

Conor: 1-3

Watford 1-2 Sheff United @ 7/1

No idea on this one in truth. Watford and Sheffield United will both be playing Championship football next season but the Blades managed to find a win last time out over Hull, while Watford are four without a win. Sheffield United’s quality may just tell.

Nick: 2-2

Conor: 1-1

Hull 1-1 Birmingham @ 6/1

Hull are clinging onto the final play-off spot, with a four point lead over Wrexham, but they aren’t in good form having won just one of their last five. I want them to finish in the play-offs after the season they’ve had, but I think Birmingham pose a threat and could take a point from the MKM.

Nick: 3-1

Conor: 1-2

Wrexham 2-1 Stoke @ 7/1

Wrexham need to start racking up the wins to close the gap on Hull before the final day, and they have a relatively kind fixture on paper on Saturday as they host Stoke. The Potters sit 16th after losing their way since a fantastic start, and they should be easy prey for Phil Parkinson’s side. 

Nick: 4-0

Conor: 1-1

Sheff Wed 1-0 Charlton @ 9/1

I’m doing it - I’m backing a Sheffield Wednesday win. Only their second success of the league season could come as they host Charlton, based on what I’ve seen in their last two. They were phenomenal at the CBS Arena as they drew 0-0 with Premier League bound Coventry, and prior to that they were a matter of minutes away from beating Leicester at home. 

Charlton are out of form, winless in five and still need to hit that 50-point mark, so I think they could drop points at Hillsborough. 

Nick: 1-3

Conor: 1-1

Preston 0-1 West Brom @ 11/2

West Brom may be hit with a points deduction which could land them into deep relegation trouble, but I think it will motivate this group to kick on and get some more wins. James Morrison has simplified things and improved them, so I think a win at Deepdale is on the cards.

Nick: 0-0

Conor: 0-1

Bristol City 2-3 Norwich @ 18/1

Going for a big result with plenty of goals in this one. Norwich suffered in the East Anglian derby and Philippe Clement will want them to bounce back at Ashton Gate. Bristol City are unbeaten since Roy Hodgson took charge, but I think that will change against the Canaries.

Nick: 2-1

Conor: 0-2

Ipswich 2-2 Middlesbrough @ 12/1

The game of the weekend on Sunday? We thought this would be a straight shootout for the automatic places months ago, and that could still be the case but Boro have to go to Portman Road and win. Boro are winless in seven and have dropped to fifth, while Ipswich’s midweek defeat has heaped the pressure on. 

I’m going for a very entertaining score draw.

Nick: 2-1

Conor: 1-1

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