This weekend sees just two games on TV from the Football League, with both coming in the Championship.
The early kick-off on Saturday is a game between recently relegated Burnley and one of last year’s surprise packages, Birmingham City.
Birmingham finished 10th last year, despite starting the season in abysmal fashion. 23rd in the league, on the back of an 8-0 loss, Gary Rowett came in and turned their fortunes around. They’ve had a few struggles in the transfer market, missing out on key targets, but started their season in dramatic style: a 2-1 win that was sealed with a last gasp penalty save from summer signing Tomasz Kuszczak.
They should give Burnley a very difficult time, who started the season with a difficult away draw with Leeds United. Burnley have made a number of signings of young players, but only a few who will go straight into the first team. They are being linked with Forest midfielder Henri Lansbury and Brentford forward Andre Gray, but it’s unlikely either will be ready for this week’s game.
Birmingham might be without Michael Morrison, which will likely see experienced defender Paul Robinson coming into defence. This might give heart to Burnley’s bigger forwards like Sam Vokes and Lukas Jutkiewicz, as Robinson stands at just 5’8. Burnley appear to have a full strength squad going into the game, so will be very hopeful of a first win in their first home game.
If you fancy a home win, you can get it at 4/5. Burnley look a strong outfit this year and Birmingham might be missing a very important defender. However, they tend to thrive on being the underdog and countering with the pace of Demarai Gray and Clayton Donaldson, so they may be able to pull off a result – odds of 13/4 say they don’t.
The second game sees another recently relegated side, QPR, face off against a team relegated the season before, Cardiff. QPR started their season with a shock defeat at the hands of Charlton, but are looking to go straight back up. They’ll need to improve, and improve fast, as Cardiff are a decent side. They started off with a respectable draw against Fulham, thanks to a wonder strike from winger Craig Noone.
QPR have today agreed a deal to sign Tim Ream from Bolton, who might help with their defensive frailties. They have plenty of quality in players like Fer, Phillips, Emmanuel-Thomas and Hoilett if they can get them firing, but rumours of moves away have lingered for many of their players, so keeping them happy might not be easy. On the face of it, they have enough quality, but it’s not always the way.
Cardiff had a pretty indifferent season last time around, and are looking to push on this year. The signing of Sammy Ameobi on loan could be a great one, but Russell Slade has told the winger he needs to bulk up. This should mean starts for Noone and Pilkington, who are talented widemen capable of winning games. QPR’s full backs will have to be on top form to stop them.
Neither side appear to have any fresh injury concerns, so should both be at full strength. The game could be won and lost in wide positions, as both teams have terrific players out there. Alex Revell and Sebastian Polter may get chances to use their height from crosses, so look out for that.
Both teams to score at 5/6 seems a solid bet, as both teams look like they have a lot of goals in them. The draw at 23/10 might not be a bad shout either, as QPR don’t look massively convincing, and Cardiff will likely be happy to settle for a draw.
