* EFL Championship Match Day Thread. Tuesday 4th April 2023 *

r00fie1

r00fie1

Well-known member
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Talking Points:

Blackpool are 4 points short safety and facing almost certain relegation. Their form has nose-dived with three different Managers this season. Meanwhile, West Brom are three points off 6th place, having a reasonably decent season, but nowhere near the promotion-chasing contenders as expected. Rotherham sit two places and two points above Neil Warnock`s Huddersfield in 18th place. Their aim will be to ensure Championship survival, but there are others below them who are far worse off! However, its unlikely that Burnley will be charitable tonight as they push towards the 100 points marker. It will be interesting to see whether Bristol City can do one over the Blades at Brambley Lane. I hope so. Stoke have had a mediocre season and sit in a neither play-offs / no relegation spot. At home tonight to rock bottom Wigan, it sounds like a match to avoid. Oh for Neil Warnock to knock the stuffing out of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Blunderland are still in contention for the play-offs and have done well, considering its their first time up from the third tier and the fact they have been without Stewart and Simms since before Christmas. Both were their top scorers. Stewart suffered long term injury and Simms was recalled to parent club Everton. Millwall are six points below us in 6th. They are going great guns for them and have to be taken seriously. Birmingham will have to be on the button to come away with a point this evening.


Tuesday Night Fixtures:
*All 19:45 kick-off, other than Millwall v Birmingham - which is a 20:00 hrs K.O.
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Championship Table [18/04/2023]
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Championship Form:

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Match Previews:
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Blackpool v West Brom.

Blackpool’s slender survival hopes lived on for another day with a 1-0 win in a bottom-two battle against fellow strugglers Wigan. Relegation remains very much on the cards for the Seasiders given the four-point gap to safety with as many games remaining, yet caretaker manager Steven Dobbie believes his side have given themselves a “fighting chance” in this game against West Bromwich Albion after their narrow success at the weekend.

A Bloomfield Road return may further stoke belief of a late push for safety as only two of the last ten visiting sides managed to get the better of the Tangerines on their own turf (Blackpool: W4, D4, L2). That’s not to mention the fact that the hosts are also unbeaten in their latest two home league H2Hs (W1, D1) and could extend that to three for the first time since 1965!

Looking to avoid such a fate are a West Brom side who boosted their promotion prospects with a come-from-behind win in a Midlands derby against Stoke last time out! That victory also ended a woeful seven-game winless run of competitive away games for Carlos Corberán’s men (D1, L6) as the Spaniard praised his men for scoring goals with an admirable “desire, passion and mentality”.

The Baggies are at the wrong end of the logjam of teams between sixth and 11th that were separated by just three points, but with 15 points left to play for, they could force the issue with another win here. Playing during the week shouldn’t particularly faze West Brom either, after a run of three straight wins without reply on Tuesday evening fixtures, including one against Blackpool in that sequence.

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Players to watch: Jerry Yates announced his return from injury for Blackpool with a fourth straight scoring appearance last round, and two of the goals therein were match openers within five minutes! A likely outlet for West Brom could be talented wideman Jed Wallace, as he has contributed to three goals during his perfect H2H record against the Seasiders (G2, A1).

Hot stat: West Brom possess a meagre 31% win rate as pre-match outsiders in away league games this season (W5, D3, L8).

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Rotherham v Burnley

Just three points clear of the Championship drop zone, albeit with a game in hand, Rotherham look set for a nervy ending to their campaign. Now anxiously looking over their shoulder and desperately needing points to move away from the dreaded dotted line, table-topping Burnley visit at an inopportune time as far as Rotherham are concerned given the Millers have lost the last four H2H meetings.

Having gone down 2-0 to another promotion candidate in Luton at the weekend, one could be forgiven for expecting Rotherham to cave in here. That may not be the case, as that stood as their first home defeat of the season against a current top-six side (W1, D2). Additionally, they came tantalisingly close to winning the reverse fixture at Turf Moor, leading 2-1 in stoppage time only to lose 3-2!

Already promoted to next season’s Premier League, Burnley’s lifeless 0-0 draw away at Rotherham’s fellow relegation contenders Reading at the weekend perhaps offered a sign of what’s to come now the Clarets have so little to play for. The title is all but wrapped up and can be secured here by simply bettering Sheffield United’s result against Bristol City, but after speaking about “rewarding” fringe members of the squad, it remains uncertain just how serious Vincent Kompany is in chasing a record-equalling Championship points tally.

After Saturday’s draw, equalling Reading’s 106 point haul is the best Burnley can achieve this season, but having won just one of their last eight away league games against Rotherham (D3, L4), even that seems like a stretch. On a more hopeful note in pursuit of history, the Clarets have at least managed to remain unbeaten in all 11 of their Championship midweek games this season (W5, D6), though they’ll need to level that up here to keep pace with the Royals’ record.

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Players to watch: A scorer in the reverse fixture just one minute after being introduced off the bench, Rotherham’s Chiedozie Ogbene has seen seven of his eight goals this term arrive prior to the one-hour mark. Similarly, Burnley’s Anass Zaroury has seen his last five strikes come before the break, four of which have been decisive in victory.

Hot stat: Burnley have lost nine of their last ten league matches away to teams with ‘United’ as their suffix (D1).

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Sheffield United v Bristol City

A come-from-behind 4-1 win over Cardiff on Saturday gave promotion hopefuls Sheffield United a five-point cushion over third-placed Luton Town with a game in hand. Boss Paul Heckingbottom spoke about being in “a position where it’s about us” as the hosts look to juggle their priorities ahead of an upcoming trip to Wembley for their first FA Cup semi-final since 2014 against Manchester City.

That historic occasion could give extra impetus to United to extend their impressive home form and remain in high spirits. The hosts have won 11 of their last 13 competitive matches (L2) at Bramall Lane giving a distinct cutting edge to the Blades against Bristol City, a team they are unbeaten against since March 2019 (W3, D1).

The visitors fell to a 2-0 defeat against Watford on Saturday, leaving them firmly in a mid-table spot and nearly equidistant from the relegation and the play-off zones. Manager Nigel Pearson spoke of a disappointing result despite “playing really well,” but the real challenge would be to lift his side when there’s little to gain or lose.

There are still incentives to cling on to, as City look to avoid losing both league H2Hs in a single season for the first time since 2013/14 after a slender 1-0 H2H defeat last November. The Robins also have a responsibility towards their traveling fans, having seen them endure the pain of four defeats across six road trips (W1, D1), whilst scoring in only one game during the sequence.

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Players to watch: James McAtee registered United’s opener on Saturday and has three direct goal contributions (G2, A1) from his last three league appearances. Andreas Weimann could enjoy the occasion, having scored a hat-trick here in Bristol’s last H2H win in March 2019, though he also has three yellow cards across his last four H2H matches.

Hot stat: Only Birmingham City have scored more opening goals within the first 15 minutes than United’s 11 during this Championship campaign.

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Stoke City v Wigan

Stoke City still await mathematical confirmation that they’ll renew their Championship status for next season, after a 2-1 loss last time out to West Brom made it three successive games without a win (D1, L2). Now sitting in 16th on 52 points, all Stoke can realistically hope for is bettering last season's tally of 62 points with four games to go, that being their best haul since re-entering the Championship in 2018.

Perhaps the Tuesday night lights can help the Potters achieve that goal, having avoided defeat in four of their last five league games played on a Tuesday (W3, D1). Manager Alex Neil may aid in masterminding the three points against Wigan here too, having won five of his last six (L1) managerial encounters with the Latics.

That trend seems destined to continue, as Wigan don’t seem to be putting up much of a fight for their survival after suffering their third consecutive scoreless defeat in the “battle of the bottom two” when losing 1-0 to Blackpool over the weekend. Time appears to have run out, as that result means another defeat here, coupled with results elsewhere going against Shaun Maloney’s men, will finally see them officially get relegated, a conclusion that has seemed inevitable for a long time.

Hitting the road only serves to further diminish what are only mathematical hopes for the Latics, considering they’ve failed to win any of their last 17 away matches (D7, L10). If all else fails, pride is on the line for Wigan, as defeat here would also see Stoke secure a league-double over them for the first time since 1998/99!

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Players to watch: That occurred before Stoke’s top-scorer this season Tyrese Campbell was born, and he’s gone on to score eight of his last ten goals after half-time. The inverse is true for Wigan’s top-scorer Will Keane, as eight of his last ten have come before half-time.

Hot stat: Wigan have failed to win any of their last seven Championship matches played on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (D2, L5).

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Sunderland v Huddersfield

Manager Tony Mowbray has admitted his Sunderland side are loving every minute of their exciting climax to the Championship season. The Black Cats came from behind to beat Birmingham 2-1 on Saturday, with the boss praising his side for “finding a way” to win, despite having left-back Dennis Cirkin sent off late on.

That result has left supporters dreaming of a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017. They finished the last round two points outside the play-off positions and unbeaten in five outings (W2, D3), but could do with picking up some more victories at the Stadium of Light, where the win over Birmingham ended a run of five games without success (D3, L2), with both teams interestingly scoring in each of those fixtures.

The visit of Huddersfield might provide Sunderland with the perfect chance to make it back-to-back successes at home, given the Terriers' total of 13 away defeats is already their seasonal joint-high in the second tier this century. The most recent of those was a 1-0 reverse against Swansea on Saturday, when the Yorkshire outfit managed just one shot on target and saw a five-match unbeaten run come to an end (W3, D2).

Despite the weekend result, Neil Warnock’s side have managed to stay one point clear of the relegation zone, a far cry from their perilous position deep inside the bottom three when he took charge in February. History suggests it’s unlikely that they will move further clear of danger in this fixture though, as they head to Wearside looking to beat Sunderland away in a league fixture for the first time since 1960 (D1, L8)!

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Key battle: Striker Jack Clarke has only lost one of the eight league games in which he has scored for Sunderland (W4, D3). He will be trying to get the better of Huddersfield defender Tom Lees, who has helped his side keep one clean sheet in three previous unbeaten appearances against the Black Cats (W2, D1).

Hot stat: Both teams have scored in 13 of Sunderland’s 21 home league matches; that’s a Championship high.

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Millwall v Birmingham

Millwall finally posted a win at the fifth time of asking at the weekend (W1, D2, L2), with a 2-0 victory over play-off rivals Preston serving to consolidate their top-six spot. It’s highly unlikely that Millwall will drop out of the top-six after this midweek round regardless of the result here, but despite their cushy position, boss Gary Rowett described their last four games as “must-win” encounters.

A clash against Birmingham City perhaps comes at an ideal time then, as Millwall are unbeaten across each of the last eight H2H encounters (W3, D5) with five clean sheets in tow. When you couple such a strong H2H record with the fact Millwall are unbeaten in 14 of their last 16 home league games played on a Tuesday (W6, D8, L2), it makes a strong case for Millwall embedding themselves further inside the play-off spots.

The Blues haven’t had the same success in midweek, conceding at least twice in each game during a four-match losing streak of league games played on Tuesdays, but things weren’t much better on Saturday either as John Eustace’s men went down 2-1 against a ten-man Sunderland despite taking the lead. Even so, Birmingham are all but mathematically safe, and with no promotion prospects either they may have their proverbial sandals on during the run-in.

Playing away from home is unlikely to incentivise Birmingham either, as their only travelling success across their last seven away league games came against a poor QPR side (W1, D2, L4). It’s difficult to make a case for any great improvement on that record as the Blues have failed to win all of their away league games against current top-six opponents this season (D2, L3).

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Players to watch: Millwall’s Zian Flemming ended his six-game goal drought by scoring and assisting last time out, with the Dutchman having already put together three multi-game scoring streaks this season. As for Birmingham, Scott Hogan is the only player to hit double figures for league goals in each of the last two seasons, yet he’s never scored or won against Millwall (D2, L4).

Hot stat: Millwall have failed to win half of their home league games when entered as pre-match favourites (W9, D5, L4).


Source:
www.flashscore.co.uk

Championship 2023/2024 scores, Football England - Flashscore.co.uk

Championship 2023/2024 results on Flashscore.co.uk have all the latest Championship 2023/2024 scores, tables, fixtures and match information.
www.flashscore.co.uk www.flashscore.co.uk
 
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Top Scorer - Tonight`s Teams:

Blackpool - Gerry Yates - 14

West Brom - Brandon Thomas-Asante - 8

Rotherham - Chiedozie Ogbene - 8

Burnley - Nathan Tella - 19

Sheffield United - Iliman Ndiaye - 14

Bristol City - Nahki Wells - 11

Stoke City - Tyrese Campbell - 9

Wigan - Will Keane - 10

Sunderland - Amad Diallo - 12

Huddersfield - Jordan Rhodes - 6

Millwall - Tom Bradshaw - 15

Birmingham - Scott Hogan - 10
 
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Team News:
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Blackpool Predicted lineup​

Grimshaw; Lyons, Nelson, Thorniley, Husband; Bowler, Fiorini, Anderson; Poveda, Yates, Rogers

West Bromwich Albion possible lineup​

Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Pieters, Townsend; Molumby, Chalobah, Wallace, Swift, Grant; Thomas-Asante

⚽

Sheffield United Predicted lineup​

Davies; Baldock, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Berge, Doyle, Lowe; McAtee, McBurnie, Ndiaye

Bristol City possible lineup​

O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Pring, Dasilva; King, James; Cornick, Weimann, Bell; Wells

⚽​

Sunderland Predicted lineup​

Patterson; Gooch, Hume, Batth, O'Nien; Roberts, Neil, Michut; Diallo, Pritchard, Clarke

Huddersfield Town possible lineup​

Vaclik; Lees, Helik, Pearson; Kasumu, Hogg, Rudoni, Edmonds-Green, Headley; Diarra; Ward


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Stoke City Predicted lineup​

Bonham; Hoever, Jagielka, Fox, Sterling; Thompson, Laurent; Brown, Smallbone, Powell; Gayle

Wigan Athletic possible lineup​

Amos; Nyambe, Hughes, Rekik, McClean; Power, Naylor, Aasgaard; Keane, Lang, Fletcher


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Rotherham United Predicted lineup​

Vickers; Peltier, Humphreys, Blackett; Harding, Lindsay, Coventry, Fosu, Quina; Ogbene, Hugill

Burnley possible starting lineup:
Muric; Roberts, Harwood-Bellis, Beyer, Maatsen; Cullen, Cork, Brownhill; Gudmundsson, Barnes, Foster


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Millwall Predicted lineup​

Long; McNamara, Hutchinson, Cooper, Malone; Mitchell, Saville, Burke, Flemming, Voglsammer; Bradshaw

Birmingham City possible lineup​

Ruddy; Colin, Roberts, Long, Trusty; Bielik, Hannibal, Chong, Bacuna, Khadra; Jutkiewicz
 
Just watched the first half of Sheff U v Bristol City.

How the hell are this pub side 2nd in the division? They're just a bunch of cloggers.

No doubt they'll grab a spawny goal against the run of play.
 
Cogeur_le_Conq said:
Just watched the first half of Sheff U v Bristol City.

How the hell are this pub side 2nd in the division? They're just a bunch of cloggers.

No doubt they'll grab a spawny goal against the run of play.
Click to expand...

I really dislike Sheff Utd. I think they are a horrible team and would love Luton to catch them.
 
Cogeur_le_Conq said:
Just watched the first half of Sheff U v Bristol City.

How the hell are this pub side 2nd in the division? They're just a bunch of cloggers.

No doubt they'll grab a spawny goal against the run of play.
Click to expand...
For me, they have always been a group of clogger`s. Robinson moans at his own fans. McBurnie is past it, just like Sharp. Their goalie is a second rate Joe Lumley. Cant see anyone in there apart from Beef Berger who will make it in the Premiership.
 
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