Playing Away: Blackpool, Blackburn and Leicester
Four games down and the Championship is looking as competitive as ever, and here's three teams that should return home happy following the final whistle in their games this weekend.
Following the international break, the Championship gets back underway this weekend and for my latest ‘Playing Away’ column, I reckon Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City all look decent value to win on the road at Barnsley, Bristol City and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.
While punters are probably best served picking one or two and backing them individually, they do offer a treble at odds of just under 13/1 – which could be worth considering for anyone using their free £20 bet upon registering with bwin.
Read on to find out why out top trio all have solid cases for picking up a precious three points.
Blackburn to beat Bristol City @ 29/20
| Champions League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dortmund | 1-2 | Bayern Munich | £155.00 | (27/4) |
| Dortmund | 0-1 | Bayern Munich | £160.00 | (7/1) |
| Dortmund | 0-2 | Bayern Munich | £175.00 | (31/4) |
| Dortmund win | £86.60 | (333/100) | ||
| Draw | £84.00 | (16/5) | ||
| Bayern Munich win | £33.40 | (67/100) | ||
Many people’s favourites to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt following some solid summer signings, Blackburn face a tough trip to Ashton Gate to take on a Bristol City side that have won both of their home games.
City have, however, lost each of their two games on the road, while Rovers are unbeaten in their first four matches with two wins and two draws to their name, a start which sees them sit just behind Blackpool in second place with eight points.
Following speculation about his future for the last year, Jordan Rhodes joined Rovers from Huddersfield Town in a big-money deal just before the transfer window closed and there will be a lot of pressure on the Scotland international’s shoulders to find the net in every game.
The former Ipswich Town trainee bagged 40 goals in all competitions for Huddersfield in League One last term and alongside the likes of Danny Murphy, Dickson Etuhu, Nuno Gomes and Morten Gamst Pedersen, Blackburn have a squad more than capable of finishing in the top two this season.
The Robins have managed to find the net eight times in their two home games so Steve Kean and his players won’t be taking them lightly, but looking at the two sides on paper, Rovers should return to the north-west with all three points.
Blackpool to beat Barnsley @ Evens
Four games into the new campaign and Ian Holloway’s Blackpool side top the Championship table with three wins and a defeat from their opening four games as they show no sign of a play-off final hangover following their agonising defeat to West Ham at Wembley in May.
Next up for the Seasiders is a trip to Barnsley, who have collected maximum points from both their home games with 1-0 victories over Middlesbrough and Bristol City, while comfortably losing away at Wolves and Brighton.
Highly-rated midfielder Tom Ince has been in impressive form for Blackpool with four goals so far this term and the Tykes’ defence won’t need reminding of team-mate Matty Phillips’ quality after he bagged four against them last term.
The former Wycombe man notched a hat-trick at Oakwell in December as the Seasiders recorded a 3-1 triumph, before he found the net again at Bloomfield Road to secure a point in a 1-1 draw despite Holloway’s men being a man down for 70 minutes.
While it certainly won’t be an easy task for Blackpool, they have shown they know where the net is with ten goals in four league games, conceding just twice, and Holloway won’t be sending his players out for anything other than a victory.
Leicester to beat Wolves @ 33/20
Definitely not what you would call a banker, but Leicester travel to Wolves this Sunday on the back of a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Blackpool the weekend before last, ending the Seasiders’ 100% start to the season.
The Old Gold must pick themselves up after a 3-1 defeat away at Cardiff, which followed a 1-1 draw at home to Derby, and Stale Solbakken’s side haven’t started the season as some may have expected, with just one win in four league games.
Despite receiving large sums of money for the pair, the squad was dealt a blow and their chances of promotion dented with the departure of key players Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis to Sunderland and West Ham respectively a week before the closure of the transfer window.
The Foxes are unbeaten at Molineux in four games, collecting a win and three draws, and with a strikeforce consisting of Jermaine Beckford, Dave Nugent and new arrival Jamie Vardy, they have enough quality in attack to breach any defence in the league and could well heap further misery on Solbakken and company.
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