Saturday EFL Championship
The Championship is already giving us a feeling for the excitement ahead. We've seen a cracking six-goal thriller live on Sky to open the campaign, relegation favourites Charlton have already banked six valuable points, and both Birmingham and QPR have joined in with some key points. Perhaps the most predictable thing was a strong start from Leeds, and only time will tell whether their high intensity game can withstand the rigors of a 46-match season.
So onto this weekend, and we'll start with a couple of angles down at Kenilworth Road, where Luton host West Brom.
The Hatters entertained us all on the opening Friday night, but it also gave us a view of their woefully poor defending - if that continues they will be fighting for their lives come May. Five goals leaked in two games is certainly a concern this early in the season, and West Brom attacking minded team will be eager to get going in this one.
The Baggies have opened with a 1-1 draw with Millwall, and a decent 2-1 win at Forest in the league. Only two of their first team regulars appeared in midweek as well, so they should be well rested up - although the same can be said of Luton.
West Brom could well go off shorter than the 17/10 they are this morning.
Next we have Swansea, who welcome Preston to South Wales. The Swans fairly well battered Hull on the opening weekend - winning 2-1, but the performance level was stronger than the result suggested, and they followed up with a hard fought draw at Derby.
Preston by contrast have struggled somewhat. A 1-0 defeat at Millwall was a pretty dour game by all accounts - Preston failed to register an effort on target in the whole 90 minutes, and they then beat Wigan 3-0 at home. Whether that says as much about Wigan remains to be seen, but for now, I'm happy to be a Swansea backer with home advantage this weekend.
I hate opposing Blackburn at Ewood Park, but at over 2/1, and attacking Middlebrough team look to be playing with lots of adventure at the moment. Freed of the shackles placed upon them until the Tony Pulis era, the club will be getting a huge boost from the new regime, and they put in a good stint at home to Brentford last week, despite the result.
Blackburn were well beaten by Fulham, and were far from convincing against Charlton on the opening day, leaving them rock bottom after the opening exchanges. Plenty of firms are 21/10 about Boro this weekend, and that should go shorter by 3pm on Saturday.
Recommended Bets
2pts West Brom to beat Luton at 17/10 (Uni Bet)
1pt Swansea to beat Preston at 5/4 (General)
1pt Middlesbrough to beat Blackburn at 21/10 (General)