The Championship Weekend Previews: Boro to ease past hapless Robins

Middlesbrough have been in great form of late

Mike Norman picks his best bets from this weekend's Championship action, and he believes high-flying Middlesbrough will be way too good for relegation-threatened Bristol City...

Barnsley 3.55/2 v Cardiff 2.245/4; The Draw 3.613/5

If ever a club's home and away form could be described as chalk and cheese then it is most definitely Cardiff's. On home soil, the Bluebirds have won nine from nine so far this season; away from home they've lost six in total in all competitions, including four of their last five.

I'm not doubting they're a decent team, but having watched Cardiff get extremely lucky last Saturday I sense their home form will falter before their away form gets better.

For the record, Malky Mackay's men were completely outplayed against Middlesbrough last weekend but somehow managed to win the game. Boro dominated possession, had five times more shots on target than the opposition, had 20 shots in total, hit the woodwork, and failed to score. Cardiff had two shots on target and scored one It's a funny old game as someone once said!

Barnsley are not amongst the obvious candidates to take advantage of Cardiff's dodgy away form, but neither were clubs like Bristol City, Charlton, and Northampton (Capital One Cup). The Tykes will need to seriously improve on recent league performance but a small wager will be had on Keith Hill's men to inflict more away day blues on the Bluebirds.

Recommended Bet: Back Barnsley to win @ 3.55/2

Ipswich 2.01/1 v Peterborough 4.03/1; The Draw 3.814/5

Two of the bottom three clubs meets at Portman Road in a game that neither side can afford to lose, even at this relatively early stage of the season. It's one thing losing to top half clubs, but losing to one of your relegation rivals makes avoiding the drop a more difficult task, not to mention the negatives it can have on confidence and morale.

Having said that, I'm not sure morale can be any lower in the Peterborough camp after four successive losses, whilst 5-0 and 6-0 defeats for Ipswich in two of their last three games is hardly encouraging.

At least the Tractor Boys have recorded two wins recently and have a new man at the helm who will still be full of optimism, and you never know, that might just rub off on his players. If I were to place a wager in the Match Odds market then the home side would be my selection, but it's too close to call for my liking so instead I'm counting on this game to have plenty of goals.

Both sides concede plenty, we know that, and in a game that will be very tense I don't envisage either defence suddenly becoming watertight. There's plenty of attacking talent in each side so I'm hopeful that we'll see at least four goals.

Recommended Bet: Back Over 3.5 Goals @ 2.89/5

Middlesbrough 1.68/13 v Bristol City 6.611/2; The Draw 4.3100/30

Middlesbrough still remain very much of interest from a form perspective, despite having a draw and a loss in their last three games.

The draw away to Nottm Forest was well earned with neither side playing particularly well on the night but defending solidly. And as I've already mentioned above, Boro's loss to Cardiff last week was extremely harsh; their football at times was breathtaking for this level and Tony Mowbray was full of praise for the way they performed.

The only surprise then was that Middlesbrough didn't find the net against Cardiff because so far this season no less than 19 different players have scored for Boro this season.

I recall during Barcelona's midweek Champions League game the commentator being staggered that approximately 13 different Barca players had scored this term. That commentator might want to visit Teesside at some point!

It's impossible to envisage Mowbray's men not getting two or three goals at least against Bristol City on Saturday - Derek McInnes' men have been woefully out of form recently; seven straight losses prior to last week's draw, not a single win since beating bottom of the table Peterborough over two months ago, and an average of two goals conceded per game.

It doesn't bode well for the away side. Take Boro to win easily.

Recommended Bet: Back Middlesbrough HT/Middlesbrough FT @ 2.427/5 (Best Bet)

Season P/L (1pt each bet, 2pts Best Bet)

Wagered: 64 pts
Returned: 71.08 pts
P/L + 7.08 pts