football | Friday, April 28, 2023 7:59 AM

Championship Best Bets: Three Angles of Attack Across tThe Penultimate Championship Weekend

Jack Wright

Championship Best Bets: Saturday, April, 29th

We are back with more Championship best bets ahead of this weekend’s action. The automatic promotion places are now sealed. Burnley returns to the Premier League at the first time of asking as champions. Sheffield United’s midweek win against West Brom confirmed they will join the Clarets in the top tier next season.

Luton beat Middlesbrough on Monday but may meet again at Wembley as the pair have claimed the first two playoff spots. It’s any two of eight for who completes the post-season line-up.

Back-to-back wins for Wigan keep their survival hopes alive, with no side yet relegated.

Three of Saturday’s games go under the microscope here, with a best bet in each.

In this article:

Coventry vs Birmingham Preview & Best Bet
Sunderland vs Watford Preview & Best Bet
West Brom vs Norwich Preview & Best Bet

Coventry vs Birmingham Preview

England, Championship, Saturday, April 29th, 15:00 (UK)

Coventry extended their unbeaten run to five games with a 2-1 victory over Reading last weekend. A win that moved the Sky Blues up into the top six and places their playoff dreams in their own hands. Mark Robins will be keen to see his side make the most of their final home game of the season. Before a final day trip to the Riverside to take on Middlesbrough, they will be looking to join in the post-season battle for promotion.

John Eustace described his side’s performance in the 1-0 home defeat to Blackpool as flat. With safety assured and little other than pride to play for, it won’t be surprising to see the 17th-placed Blues boss opt to rotate his lineup with one eye on next season. With 10-goal top scorer Scott Hogan ruled out, Birmingham look a little blunt in attack.

Coventry vs Birmingham Best Bet

Coventry did the business for us last weekend in defeating the relegation-threatened Royals. I expect them to repeat the trick against their local rivals. Gustavo Hamer cracked home what turned out to be the match-winner. The goal was one of two attempts on target, with the 25-Year-Old Midfielder having had 16 shots on target in his last 11 appearances, firing in at least one in nine of those games.

Selection: Coventry to win and over 0.5 Gustavo Hamer shots on target (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 2.15 (bet365)
Stakes: 6/10

More Coventry vs Birmingham Tips

Sunderland vs Watford Preview

England, Championship, Saturday, April 29th, 15:00 (UK)

Sunderland grabbed a superb come-from-behind victory over West Brom last Sunday. Dennis Cirkin scored a second-half double for the Black Cats to end their play-off rival’s 12-match unbeaten home league run. The fact the Baggies had only conceded three times in that run made the win even more impressive. Tony Mowbray was undoubtedly happy with his side, who, as a result, now sit in 6th place. However, he will know all too well they can afford no slip-ups over the final two games with a host of clubs grouped in behind, ready to snatch that final playoff spot.

Ozan Tufan’s 25th-minute penalty was enough to condemn his former club to another abject defeat last weekend. It didn’t come as too much of a surprise after Chris Wilder labelled his side “weak mentally and physically” and that nobody “could get a tune out of this firm”.

Sunderland vs Watford Best Bet

The reverse at Hull made it six defeats from nine winless road trips in all competitions for Watford. Four losses in the last six outings across all venues highlight that the season can’t end soon enough for the Hornets.

Sunderland, who have won three of their last four fixtures, will be desperate to take advantage of that record before a final-day visit to Preston. The Black Cats’ unbeaten in 86% of home league games as pre-match favourites will also fill them with confidence. Only Luton and champions Burnley can boast a higher figure.

Selection: Sunderland to win (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 1.91 (Coral)
Stakes: 6/10

More Sunderland vs Watford Tips

West Brom vs Norwich Preview

England, Championship, Saturday, April 29th, 17:30 (UK)

West Brom were the guests at Sheffield United’s promotion party on Wednesday evening. The Blades’ 2-0 win prompted wild celebrations while the Baggies clung on to the hope they could still be joining their hosts via the playoffs. To keep that dream alive, Carlos Corberan’s men must take all three points here. With the boss promising they will “fight until the end”.

On current form, Norwich are one of the best sides to face when needing a win. The Canaries were embarrassed by Swansea at Carrow Road last weekend, thumped 3-0, having only had 22% of the ball – with Sam McCallum’s red card for a professional foul only adding to their woes.

Unbelievably still mathematically not out of the playoff race, David Wagner will need to see a massive reaction from his team to claim a win at the Hawthorns that will keep faint hopes alive into the season’s final weekend.

West Brom vs Norwich Best Bet

Knockout football has effectively come early for these two underperforming sides. Whoever doesn’t win can start booking their summer holidays and preparing for another tour of duty in the Championship.

This means we should see at least one side pushing at any one time over the 90 minutes. My angle here is in a metric which both these sides top. West Brom have taken a league-high 179 corners at home, averaging 8.14 flag kicks per game at the Hawthorns. The Canaries have taken a league-high 150 corners away at an average of 6.82.

The referee is Robert Madley, who has shown 53 yellow cards and four reds in his 12 Championship appearances this season. He has shown both teams at least one card in all of his last ten games.

Selection: 4+ corners each team and 10+ booking points each team (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 2.10 (SkyBet)
Stakes: 7/10

Odds via bet365, Coral and SkyBet as at 22:20 April 27th 2023. Odds may now differ.

More West Brom vs Norwich Tips

What are Football Best Bets?

Our best bets are posted by some of the best tipsters around. These are our tipsters best value bets. A best bet can be placed on any number of different markets. The most common of which are 1X2, the Asian handicap, BTTS, and the goals markets. Value can be found in matches from leagues across the world. Be sure to follow bettingexpert for the latest best bets.