For many teams, this weekend’s fixtures mean a third league game in the space of a week and with all 24 sides in action the Championship starts to really take shape.
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The first game of the weekend is a 12pm kick-off which sees Peterborough United take on Leeds United. The Posh are the divisions joint top scorers at home having notched 16 times in 6 matches and after claiming a 4-3 victory in a pulsating match against Cardiff in mid-week they are a team brimming with confidence. Leeds arrive at London Road having only won once on the road so far, however avoiding defeat would see their recent unbeaten run stretch to seven games.
At Bloomfield Road a tasty encounter is on the cards as Blackpool play host to Nottingham Forest. Having collected 13 points from a possible 18 the Tangerines boast an impressive home record and they will be looking for another triumph which could lift them into the play-off positions. Forest on the other hand have struggled this season, however with their recent 2-0 win they claimed their first three points under new manager Steve Cotterill and will have high hopes of their own.
Barnsley make their second lengthy journey in a week when they travel to Wales to face Malky Mackay’s Cardiff City. The hosts currently occupy 12th in the league table having yet to find any sort of consistency and, following defeat in their last outing, will be hungry for their fourth home win of the season. After falling to their first away defeat of the season last week, the Tykes returned to winning ways with a 2-0 success over Burnley on Tuesday, and will hope to take something back to South Yorkshire from a ground where they have not lost in their last two outings.
Two sides who are both struggling to find form meet at the Ricoh Arena, as Coventry City entertain Burnley in search of their third win of the season. The Sky Blues experienced a difficult start to the season losing their first four league games and not tasting success until September 10th, however following their 1-1 draw at Leeds they have now lost just once in their last five matches. The visitors, who were expected by many to do well in this campaign, have an average record so far having lost five times in their first eleven games, and they prepare for this match-up on the back of two straight defeats.
Hull City play host to Watford in a game which sees two teams with contrasting fortunes. The Tigers are looking up after an unbeaten run of seven matches has brought them to within two points of the top six. While only three goals have been shipped on home soil they have themselves notched just four times and with Crystal Palace and Blackpool both having left the KC Stadium with maximum points, the Hornets, who linger just above the bottom three with two victories this season, will be buoyed as they make the long trip up North.
Ipswich and Crystal Palace prepare to lock horns in a match Bookmakers will claim as a nightmare. The pair currently lay side by side in the Championship having both won six times, drawn twice and lost on four occasions, and Palace arrive at Portman Road one place above their opponents on goal difference alone after collecting 10 points from their previous four games. Meanwhile the Tractor Boys have reached sixth spot courtesy of their own recent record of three wins and three draws and will be eager to continue an home record which has seen them not been beaten since August.
Another team searching for good fortune following some unexpected results is Leicester City and they look forward to the prospect of facing one of the division’s lowly sides. Despite only losing once in their last ten outings following a shaky start, the Foxes have set sights on big things this season and strive to put together a winning formula. In comparison, their opponents have their immediate aspirations to climb up the table and out of danger following a poor first few months. Millwall have won just one of their 12 fixtures so far and with that coming at The New Den they aim to leave the Walkers Stadium with their first three points away from home.
In the North East it’s third against fourth as Middlesbrough welcome Derby County to the Riverside Stadium following their first defeat of the season. Boro suffered at the hands of Nottingham Forest in mid-week and Derby will be in the mood to capitalise, however, despite claiming only one victory on home soil, the Tee-siders have proved hard to beat having shared the spoils five times. With the teams neck and neck the Rams will be looking to avoid a third away loss as they aim to keep up with the pace at the top.
Portsmouth welcome fellow strugglers Doncaster Rovers to Fratton Park with eyes on back to back home wins for the first time this season. Prior to their recent defeat, Pompey claimed a 2-0 success over Barnsley in front of the Sky cameras and, as they prepare to face a team currently languishing second-bottom of the Championship, they look to do something they have failed to do thus far and secure consecutive victories on their own patch. Doncaster follow their South Yorkshire counterparts in tackling the long trek to the South Coast, however they do it in dire need of some away points having lost five of their six games so far.
Following a steady start to the 2011/12 campaign, last season’s play-off runners-up are finding their feet just in time to come face to face with the league leaders. Reading have picked up speed of late and are currently six games unbeaten as they prepare for their toughest challenge yet when Southampton come calling in the Championships 5.20pm kick-off. The Saints’ latest win against West Ham sent them five points clear at the top of the table and they travel to the Madejski as the divisions team to beat, interestingly though, only eight of their 26 points this season have come on the road and they have not returned to St Mary’s with maximum away points since a 5-2 success over Ipswich Town on August 16th.
Bristol City remain the basement club and on Sunday they welcome Birmingham City to Ashton Gate. The Robins are desperate to start picking up wins as they are beginning to slip further away from safety. Just six points sees them rock bottom and they prepare to take on one of last season’s Premier League outfits as the only team in the division not to have won a single game at home. The Blues, who didn’t feature domestically during the week because of their Europa League encounter, occupy 16th spot having won four games, however because of their European exploits this match will be only their 10th in the Championship this season.
Monday’s action sees another surprise package Brighton and Hove Albion, take on West Ham. Last season these two were two divisions apart and this will be their first league meeting since 2005, as a matter of fact it will be only the 19th time they have met in history and, with five draws contested, the Hammers just have the edge with eight victories. This season they are both making progress in the Championship with the newly promoted Seagulls seeing a strong start leave them ninth in the table and having only tasted defeat once in their new Amex arena home. West Ham lost out to Southampton on Tuesday but they remain second in the league, and as they have only lost once on their travels all season, they will be hoping to close the gap on their rivals once again.
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