The Championship Previews: Promoted clubs to produce high-scoring game

Charlton boss Chris Powell

Mike Norman has glanced over this weekend's Championship games to come up with three bets of the day, including goals expected between the clash of the promoted clubs...

It's been a tough couple of weeks for this column. Our three home selections last weekend were all held to a draw, with the most painful one by far being our best bet Ipswich conceding an 89th minute equaliser to Barnsley.

But that's how football betting goes sometimes, you just have to ride the waves of luck, good or bad, whenever they strike. This week doesn't look to be any easier with just five games to choose from, but I'm quietly confident about these three.

Burnley 2.01/1 v Birmingham 4.3100/30; The Draw 3.711/4

What they probably don't tell you when you become a manager at a football club is that financially, the club is in a bit of turmoil.

Ok, Lee Clarke probably didn't need to be a genius to understand Brum had a huge wage bill and debts, but when you're struggling towards the bottom of the league table, and attendances start to drop, then that huge wage bill seems astronomical, and the debts become crippling.

To be fair to Birmingham fans attendances at St Andrews have been steady this term, but they are not surprisingly down on Premier League attendances of two season ago and the team shows no sign of improving which would help to get the fans back. It's just two wins in 15 games in all competitions, and just one win on their travels - to bang out of form Barnsley - in the last three months.

Clarke must take his low-on-confidence side to fast improving Burnley on Saturday and it looks a difficult task. The Clarets have won four of their last five league games without conceding a single goal, and remarkably, top scorer Charlie Austin has only netted once in that time.

So if Sean Dyche's men can maintain their excellent recent defensive record, and Austin starts to find the net again, then Burnley could be a club to watch out for during the remainder of the season. At even money, they look good for another win on Saturday afternoon.

Recommended Bet: Back Burnley to win @ 2.01/1

Charlton 2.3411/8 v Sheffield Wednesday 3.39/4; The Draw 3.55n/a

Two of last season's promoted clubs meet at The Valley and both bring some excellent form to this fixture, suggesting an entertaining game could be on the cards.

The Addicks have won three league games on the bounce and scored an impressive eight goals in that period, while The Owls have lost just one of their last seven, winning four including that tremendous victory at high-flying Hull a fortnight ago.

Dave Jones' has his side defending well at the moment (five clean sheets in seven games) but that means we get an excellent price on Over 2.5 Goals here (2.111/10).

Chris Powell's men have been involved in some high-scoring games this term - 5-4 against Cardiff, 4-3 against Watford etc - and their last eight league games have averaged over three goals per game. That augers well for a game in which two sides will go on the attack in an attempt to maintain their recent good form.

Recommended Bet: Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.111/10 (best bet)

Wolves 2.9215/8 v Blackpool 2.6413/8; The Draw 3.55/2

A meeting between two clubs that have seemingly had more managers than I've had hot dinners in recent times. In fact, I thought it best to check Wikipedia before penning this preview just in case Dean Saunders had called time on his Wolves job to take up the vacant role at Blackpool!

We'll ignore gaffers here however and instead concentrate on goals again (or lack of them) as this is a game that has the potential to be pretty low-scoring in my eyes.

It's not the fact that both sides aren't capable of scoring a few goals, it's more to do with the fact that confidence must be low in both camps given their recent form and therefore a tight cagey affair might be played out.

Blackpool haven't won in eight league and cups games now, whereas Wolves are winless in six, with four of their last five matches - and four of their last five games at Molineux - producing two goals or less.

Recommended Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.0621/20

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

Wagered: 108 pts
Returned: 118.54 pts
P/L + 10.54 ptss