Championship Best Bets

It's fair to say the Championship has been our friend recently, providing a hat-trick of big priced winners on Tuesday, so we're obviously hoping the run keeps going.

We'll start down at Nottingham Forest, where QPR make our shortlist for the third week running. They've already beaten Wolves and Sheffield United - both sides were top the division when the relative fixtures were played so the visitors should be playing with confidence.

The shot data marks QPR out as a far superior side to Forest, despite them being locked together in the league so far. QPR are enjoying a 224-164 advantage over their opponents, while Forest are jusy 196-230. That's enough to give us the confidence to back QPR to win again at odds of 21/10 with Betfair Sportsbook.

2pts QPR to beat Nottingham Forest at 21/10

Staying in the division, Preston cannot buy a win right now, but a trip down to Ipswich could be the tonic they have been waiting for to get their promotion push back on the rails.

The Tractor Boys have lost eight of their last 11 and their shot data this season suggests they've been pretty fortunate to collect the points they have so far. It's also worth noting, the three matches which they didnt lose in that 11 match run came against Bolton, Sunderland and Burton - and that may not be a coincidence!

Preston have lost their last three on the spin (Wolves, Brentford and Villa) but that's probably no massive knock given the sides they've faced. Prior to that they had strung out a nine match unbeaten spell, and we should lend more weight to that than the last couple of weeks in isolation.

2pts Preston to beat Ipswich at 9/5 (BetVictor/Betfair)

If you read us weekly, you'll know we like Brentford. Their performance in the shot table stakes has persuaded us to back them for much improvement after thier opening poor results, and it's been paying off nicely recently. We'll trust them again when they face Leeds.

Leeds are in danger of quickly turning an amazing season into a disasterous one. Having opening with seven wins and two draws, the are now on a run of seven defeats in 10 matches, including three on the bounce at home.

It's been the opposite for Brentford - they won just once in the opening 11 matches, but are now unbeaten in seven.

In terms of shot data, Brentford are 266-165 season to date (and 83-53 on target), while Leeds are just 177-174 (52-50 on target).

2.2pts Brentford to beat Leeds at 10/11 (General)

Finally, Barnsley can heap more misery on Steve Coterill by putting a toothless Birmingham to the sword at Oakwell.

Birmingham look in all sorts of trouble, and are definitely going to be concerned about what the season might bring. Harry Redknapp has gone, and while Coterill has improved things somewhat at the back, they still look woefully short of firepower and have found the net just once in his four games in charge so far and they are the league's lowest scorers on just 8 so far, and with a -15 goal difference.

Barnsley are four points better off, with a game in hand, and have won two and drawn three of their last six. They should surely not be on offer at 6/4 in this one, and that's another selection decided upon!

1pt Barnsley to beat Birmingham at 6/4 (General)

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