5 Championship Goalscorer Tips to Watch This Weekend - Gameweek 2

Newly promoted Coventry face QPR at their relocated home of St. Andrew’s as they kickoff Gameweek two of this season’s Sky Bet Championship on Friday night.

The Sky Blues have struggled early on following their promotion from League One, losing last week to Bristol City and crashing out of the EFL Cup to lower-league opposition in the form of Gillingham on Tuesday. Manager Mark Robins has also never beaten QPR in his managerial career in six attempts (one draw, five defeats).

On the other hand, QPR started with a win over Nottingham Forest as Scottish striker Lyndon Dykes scored from 12 yards on debut as he was placed on penalty duty in the 2-0 success. This came just five days after the former Livingston man also opened his account for Scotland, scoring in a 2-1 win away to the Czech Republic in the UEFA Nations League.

QPR showed excellent scoring form last season notching 67 in their 46 league games, ranking them fifth in the division and with Dykes in form, we’re backing QPR to win with Dykes to get on the scoresheet at 10/3.

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If Forest are still suffering shellshock from their comical collapse at the end of last season which resulted in them missing out on the playoffs on goal difference after a 4-1 home defeat to Stoke, a tie against fellow early strugglers Cardiff might be just what they need to stop the rot at the City Ground at Saturday lunchtime.

Both sides were knocked out at the First Round stage of the EFL Cup and both also lost 2-0 in the league last weekend but Cardiff have great form when visiting the City Ground, winning on their last five visits. They also had an impressive record when going behind last season, winning 15 points after conceding the first goal.

Expect a close affair here though, seven of the last 10 meetings have seen a one-goal margin of victory including both fixtures last season and if anybody is likely to grab that one goal it is Lewis Grabban. The Forest frontman has scored 56 league goals in the last three seasons as well as 20 last term.

Grabban to score first is 4/1 with Sky Bet - click here to claim this bet.

Norwich returned to the Championship last weekend with a victory over Huddersfield as they look to bounce back to the top flight immediately this time round as Preston are their first visitors to Carrow Road on Saturday.

Goals have been a familiar sight in games involving Norwich over the last two seasons, while most of them went in at the wrong end last season, their 2018-19 Championship campaign saw them score a league-high 93, an average of just over two per game.

Teemu Pukki was a major influence in that as the Finnish striker was the league’s top scorer with 29 and he added to this with 11 Premier League goals last term which accounted for 42% of Norwich’s goals.

Pukki also had good form against Preston, scoring in both games against them in the 18-19 season. Back Pukki to open his Championship account for the season this weekend with a brace at odds of 13/2 with Sky Bet - click here to have this bet in you bet slip.

As Reading look to end their spell outside the top flight, they started their eighth consecutive season in the Sky Bet Championship with a 2-0 win away to Derby, a result which leaves them top of the pile after the opening gameweek and they will look to take that momentum to the Madejski this weekend as they face Barnsley.

Any early season momentum Barnsley might have wished for following last season’s great escape was banished by an opening day defeat last weekend. Only five teams conceded more goals than Barnsley last season and with much of the same defence used in the early stages of this season, expect more of the same.

Both sides have suffered 1-0 home defeats to Luton this week, Barnsley in the league and Reading in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, but Reading did make a string of changes to keep most of their first team fresh for the visit of The Tykes. Lucas Joao was one of those rested after scoring in the win at Derby as well as bagging a hat-trick in the EFL Cup First Round a week earlier against Colchester.

He is expected to return to the side for Saturday’s match with odds on the Portuguese to score and Reading to take three points priced at 14/5 - click here to have this bet in your bet slip.

Championship debutants Wycombe face a trip to Ewood Park for their first-ever away fixture as a second division side on Saturday to face Blackburn.

Wycombe became notorious for their old-school style, direct and efficient, as they gained promotion from League One averaging just 1.3 goals per game last season. Their scoring record away from home was dreadful though, 0.68 goals per game was the second-worst in League One. They drew a blank on the opening weekend at home to another newly-promoted side, Rotherham, and face arguably an even more fierce attacking threat this weekend in the form of Blackburn. A win to nil for Rovers is 6/4.

Blackburn also boast one of last season’s top scorers from the Championship in the form of Adam Armstrong who netted 16 goals and he also has six in his last 10 league games, while only five sides scored more goals than Blackburn’s 66 last term. Despite falling to defeat against recently relegated Bournemouth last weekend, they looked good in front of goal in that 3-2 defeat. Armstrong to outscore Wycombe this weekend looks a good shout at odds of 12/5.

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By Andrew Delaney