James Buttler finds the best bets in Wednesday evening's Championship matches and fancies Sunderland to keep pressure on the leaders.
Burnley v Hull City
Burnley are in third and showing few signs of easing the pressure on the top two in the Championship. They are just three points behind second-placed Sheffield United and five off Leeds after putting together an unbeaten run in the league that now stretches to 18 matches. There has only been one goal scored at Turf Moor in the last four home matches for the Clarets and the three 0-0s against Stoke, Sunderland and Leeds were not calamitous but defensively they have been ridiculously strong with nine clean sheets on the bounce.
At first glance you back Burnley to win, but 22nd placed Hull have been the masters of the upset in recent weeks to give themselves a chance of survival. The Tigers’ home form is awful, but they’ve won their last three away games ‘to nil’ and beat Sheffield United 3-0 into the bargain.
This could easily be another Burnley win, but if Hull turn up like they have been doing in the last few weeks it could go two ways. A 0-0 at 13/2 with Bet365 isn’t the daftest punt and equally BTTS at 13/10 could provide good insurance.
Sunderland v Luton Town
With the caveat that I think the Championship is the toughest division to call. And that you should always gamble responsibly. Sunderland to wallop Luton Town looks like a great bet on Wednesday. Sunderland are unbeaten at the Stadium of Light this season with nine wins and six draws.
Luton are the disappointment of the Championship season. I put them up for promotion and they are sinking like a stone in 23rd, just two points off the bottom. The Hatters haven’t won away from home since mid-September and have picked up just one point in the 12 away games that followed.
Sunderland to win by two clear goals, also known as -1 on the handicap, is 6/5 with StarSports. If that doesn’t land, I’m giving up and the footballing world has turned upside down!
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
The Blades’ home form returned to something close to their previously invincible normal with a 2-1 win over Portsmouth last time out to go some way to banishing the 3-0 home loss they sustained at the hands of Hull City. But, they are just about doing the job in second and need to take a deep breath and go again to keep pressure on Leeds above and Burnley just behind.
A few weeks ago I would have suggested Sheffield United to win ‘to nil’, or a home win and unders. That may still happen. And a few weeks ago, Boro were in better form too. They’ve taken just four points from the last 15 available in the league and their current seventh spot, one point outside of the play-off places, is looking a bit shaky.
Both teams have it all to play for and, with Boro scoring at least once in their last 11 away games, my best bet in this one is for Both Teams To Score at 8/11 with BetFred.
James’ Championship Treble
If you put the above selections into a treble, and I’m taking BTTS as my best pick in the Burnley match, it comes to 7.4/1 with StarSports.
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