A big night in the Championship...
Wednesday 22nd July 2020
In Across the Leagues today:
- 12-game flurry tonight...
- 33/1 Ollie one off the top...
- 40/1 Swans an outside chance...
A big night in the Championship...
Greetings from the Peak District…
I’m out and about this week, walking up and down hills. It’s raining right now.
Just dropping you a line from my holidays today, as there’s a massive evening of football coming up in the Championship...
It’s the last day of the 46-game Championship season. Eleven of the 12 games have something riding on them. All 12 kick off at 7.30pm.
Relegation matters are tight, and even more complicated than usual, with Wigan’s pending 12-point deduction to be applied to the final standings. Who goes down and who stays up could end up being settled by lawyers.
In the top half of the table, we have two Outright bets outstanding…
Ollie one off the top...
In the Top Goalscorer market, our 33/1 Each Way pick from way back in August (in Football Angles), Ollie Watkins has given us a fantastic run for our money.
The Brentford forward has 25 goals. Ollie is in 2nd place going into the final round, just one goal behind Alexsandar Mitrovic on 26...
The Fulham striker was the 6/1 favourite at the start of the season. Our 33/1 outsider Watkins is assured of an Each Way place payout at least - barring someone from outside the top four spots bagging 7+ goals this evening, that is.
Brentford are at home v Barnsley. Fulham are away at Wigan. Both matches could have big ramifications at both ends of the table.
Swans an outside chance…
Our more recent pick in the Outright markets was Swansea for Promotion.
The Swans have proved the ‘right’ team to select as an outsider pick, in so much as that, with one game left to play, our 40/1 shots are the only team left in with a chance of breaking into the playoff positions...
Swansea need to win at Reading, and hope that Welsh rivals Cardiff lose at home to Hull.
There’s also a chance that a Swansea win coupled with a big defeat for Nottingham Forest at home to Stoke could see our team sneak into the playoffs.
Swansea are on 67 pts. Cardiff and Forest have 70 pts, and both have superior goal difference. BetVictor make Swansea a 9/1 shot to qualify for the playoffs.
Strange things happen on the final day. And with Hull bottom of the table but still in with a chance of survival, it’s not inconceivable that the Tigers could pull off a shock in Cardiff. First & foremost though, Swansea needs to get all three points at Reading.
There will probably be a few twists and turns during the 90 minutes tonight. In the case of both Ollie Watkins and Swansea, we’re in with a chance with just one game to go. And when you’re backing players and teams at odds of 33/1 and 40/1, that’s really all you can ask for.
No off-season = non-stop football for us...
The Championship ends tonight, but the playoffs are still to come, and they’re always entertaining.
It’s the final round in the Premier League on Sunday. I’ll look at that in your Across the Leagues EXTRA Predictions emails on Friday (last week we got the Wolves 2-0 Correct Score at 11/2).
In Italy, there are still four sets of fixtures to be completed in Serie A. The Top Goalscorer battle is neck and neck, with 2019/20 favourite Cristiano Ronaldo now level on 30 goals with 16/1 pre-season underdog Ciro Immobile.
With the FA Cup final, Champions League and Europa League all to come in August. Along with the start of the Scottish Premiership…
And International fixtures, as well as action across Europe, before the 2020/21 seasons start up across the board from September onwards…
We have stacks of pretty much non-stop football to keep us busy. Good stuff.
A major feature will be our pre-season picks, going after big Each Way prices in markets such as Top Goalscorer and League Winner. I’ve already got an interesting angle that we can put to work in Scotland. More on that next week, when I’m back at my usual desk.
Enjoy the football…
Best wishes,
Oliver Upstone
Across the Leagues |
