5 Championship Tips - 16/8/22

On Tuesday night, promotion favourites Watford travels to Birmingham City in hope of extending their excellent start to life under Rob Edwards.

The Hornets have manages seven points from their opening three matches and are yet to score more than one goal in each, having beaten both Sheffield United and Burnley 1-0 on either side of a 1-1 draw away at West Bromwich Albion.

Meanwhile, Birmingham have had a decent start, earning four points following a 0-0 draw with Luton, a 2-1 win against Huddersfield and a 1-0 loss to Cardiff City last time out - showing that the score group of 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 in Watford’s favour could be likely.

To many people’s surprise, initial promotion favourites Norwich City are bottom of the Championship after three matches with just one point to their name.

Norwich will fancy their chances against a Huddersfield side that are just two points better off than them after three matches, as will Finnish striker Teemu Pukki.

Pukki is yet to get off the mark for the Canaries this season, however following 55 goals in 84 Championship appearances before the start of this campaign, surely it is only a matter of time before the 32-year-old finds the back of the net.

Preston North End have started the season in decent fashion, having picked up five points from their opening three Championship matches, as well as earning a thumping 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town in the League Cup.

The Lilywhites take on a Rotherham United side that have managed four points from their opening two matches and will be hoping to find some inspiration from Danish striker Emil Riis Jakobsen.

Jakobsen, who is formerly of Randers, scored 16 and created five assists for North End in 44 Championship appearances last season and will be looking to get off the mark in the current campaign.

QPR and Blackpool face off in what could be an entertaining encounter.

The home side find themselves 10th in the Championship on four points after losing 1-0 to Blackburn, before beating Middlesbrough 3-2 and drawing 2-2 away at Sunderland thanks to a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser by goalkeeper Seny Dieng.

On the other hand, Blackpool will be hoping to capitalise on QPR’s shaky defence, having won one of their opening three matches, having defeated Reading 1-0 on the opening weekend before losing 2-0 and 1-0 to both Stoke City and Swansea City.

The final tip on this list comes from Turf Moor as Burnley hosts Hull City in an intriguing clash.

Under Vincent Kompany, Burnley have earned four points from their first three matches having beaten Huddersfield 1-0, drawn 1-1 at home to Luton, before suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss at Watford on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Shota Arveladze’s side are second in the standings having beaten Bristol City and Norwich City by 2-1 scorelines on either side of a 0-0 draw at Preston.