5 Championship Tips - 1/10/22

Promotion-chasing Norwich travels to Lancashire to take on a struggling Blackpool side.

Michael Appleton’s men are 19th having lost five of their opening ten games, and the visit of title-chasing Norwich will not give them much confidence heading into their first match after the international break.

Norwich have picked up six wins and scored 16 goals to propel them into second place and make them favourites for a return to the top tier of English football. The main reason they have been able to do so is because of their attackers – Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent have nine goals between them this season.

The pair have scored in the same game twice so far this season, in the 3-0 win over Coventry and in the Canaries’ 3-2 defeat of Bristol City. Considering the form of their opponents and their quality in comparison, we can definitely see the duo both scoring in this match.

Burnley have made a good start in their journey to achieving promotion back to the Premier League, with four wins having them sat fourth in the Championship.

They are one of three teams (alongside Rotherham and Sheffield United) to have lost just once so far, and their forwards are in great form. Jay Rodriguez has five in eight appearances, while Josh Brownhill has four goals and two assists so far.

This does not bode well for a Cardiff side who have just one win in their last six games, losing four of those six as well. The 18th-place Bluebirds will surely present no challenge for an in-form Burnley who have won three of their last five league outings, and haven’t tasted defeat against Cardiff since 2012.

Table-toppers Sheffield United play Birmingham in their weekend fixture, in a match where the outcome is pretty certain to be a Sheffield win.

Birmingham should put up a fight and score in this one. The Blades lead the way after 10 games, picking up seven wins and losing only once. A key component of their good season so far is the number of goalscorers they have in their side – Oli McBurnie, Iliman Ndiaye, Sander Berge and Anel Ahmedhodzic all have at least three goals to their names so far this season, with Ndiaye the club’s top scorer with five.

Birmingham, whilst struggling at the moment as they sit in 17th place, do have a source of goals they can rely on – Scott Hogan. The Ireland international has five goals to his name so far this season, and he will be key for Birmingham’s efforts – but for this match, while the likely result may be a Sheffield win, it is a chance for him to add to his tally so far this season.

Fifth hosts 15th as Sunderland takes on Preston at the Stadium of Light on Saturday in what should be an intriguing game between two sides who are in similar form.

Sunderland do have three wins from their last six matches but are very inconsistent, with losses to 22nd-place Middlesbrough and a draw away to 10th-place Watford sandwiching those wins.

Preston’s 15th-place standing may look unremarkable, but they have been very impressive in regard to the defensive side of their game. Ryan Lowe’s side have conceded just four goals in the opening 10 games of the season, a record that no other side in the division can better.

It is tough to pick a clear winner between these two teams and mainly because of Preston’s extraordinary defensive resilience, we think this match will end in a draw.

Promotion-chasing Reading host struggling Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon in our last tip, and we are backing the Royals to come out on top here.

The visitors are second-bottom of the Championship and are on a horrible run of form, with just one win in their last six matches, and even that win came over fellow strugglers Cardiff. Reading meanwhile, are flying high after an impressive start to the season, and they won their last match 1-0 against Wigan.

That win at the DW Stadium meant that Paul Ince’s side have won four of their last six league games, and in those four games they have emerged victorious by a margin of one goal. So we believe they will continue that trend and emerge as winners here, especially considering the fact that three of Huddersfield’s last four defeats have been by a one-goal margin.