Championship Predictions > Aug 30th & 31st

[StevieDay1983]

[StevieDay1983]

The hectic Championship schedule continues this week with a full schedule of midweek fixtures heading our way. Can Reading continue their stunning start to the season? Will Rotherham keep surprising us? Let us know your bets for these games after checking out the odds and ratings above! 

[StevieDay1983]

Cardiff vs Luton

The midweek Championship games provide some very intriguing fixtures and the one I'm focusing on is the 7:45pm BST kick-off on Tuesday night between Cardiff and Luton at the Cardiff City Stadium. It was the home team who were struggling with the away side knocking on the door of the promotion race last season but it's been a firm case of role reversal in this early stage of the season.

Cardiff once again fell victim to possessing a lack of fire power in their 0-0 draw with Preston at home on the weekend. Steve Morison's side dominated proceedings with even the opposition manager Ryan Lowe keen to point out how impressive the Bluebirds were. Unfortunately, the Max Watters goal drought continued and another missed one-on-one from the beleaguered striker cost Cardiff 2 more points. The team are now down in 14th place but still only 1 point outside the play-offs. It's three league games without a win and no goals scored during that period but the evidence suggests that the capital city side should be placed higher in the table after a string of encouraging possession-based displays that have been hampered by the lack of a clinical finisher up top. Cardiff recorded 22 shots on goal on Saturday yet still failed to score. It's not rocket science to work out what the issue is but finding proven strikers at this level is very tough.

Luton fell just short in the play-off chase for promotion last season but Nathan Jones deserves all the credit in the world for the work he's done with the club. The Hatters were tipped for relegation carnage last season but finished in the top 6 and punched way above expectations. A summer of departures and arrivals has arguably left the squad weaker than last season but there are still enough players at the club to make you feel they could consolidate mid-table this season. Unfortunately, Luton currently sit down in 19th position and just 1 point above the relegation zone after just 1 win from their opening 6 league games so far. Scoring goals also appears a problem for Jones's side with the club failing to even score in 50% of their league games thus far. The team did pick up a 2-0 win in their last away game which was also in Wales against Cardiff's rivals Swansea. It was a result Jones enjoyed being a Cardiff fan himself.

When these two teams met at this ground last season it ended in a narrow 1-0 win for Luton. I'm anticipated a similarly tight affair in this one. Both teams have struggled for goals so far this season and I wouldn't be surprised to see the odd goal separate these two teams. I think if this was on a Saturday afternoon with the Cardiff City Stadium bouncing then it would end in a narrow Cardiff win. The lack of a potent finisher or any striker with some sort of self-belief is killing us and it's preventing me from feeling comfortable backing us winning.

Draw @ 3.20 with Bet365

Total Goals Scored Under 2.5 @ 1.63 with SBK

[malabgd]

Birmingham City vs Norwich City

2022-08-30T20:45+02:00

 

Birmingham City

Doubtful: Maxime Colin (6/0 d), Jonathan Leko (3/0 f)

Out (injuries/other): Przemyslaw Placheta (5/1 m), Nico Gordon (0/0 d), Harlee Dean (0/0 d), Krystian Bielik (0/0 m)

Suspended: Lukas Jutkiewicz (5/0 f)

 

Norwich City

Doubtful: Jacob Sorensen (3/0 m), Dimitris Giannoulis (2/0 d), Sam McCallum (2/0 d)

Out (injuries/other): Liam Gibbs (5/0 m), Isaac Hayden (0/0 m), Jonathan Rowe (0/0 f)

Suspended: -

 

Daily updated injuries and suspensions information from more than 100 football leagues and competitions worldwide at: www.injuriesandsuspensions.com

[yossa6133]

I was going to back WBA away to Wigan but the price has gone. So I'll just have a small single on Reading who keep drifting out, 5.8/1 on SBK is too big given the form they've been in for the last 3 games.

Might do Blackpool tomorrow as Blackburn have been poor recently.