Brighton (10/11, Skybet) and Southampton (13/10, Paddy Power) are worth following on the Championship’s opening weekend.
The opening weekend’s fixtures are traditionally tough-to-call, with few form clues for punters to draw upon but a couple of the promoted teams look good value to hit the ground running as they step up in class to the Championship.
As Norwich, and to a lesser extent Leeds and Millwall, showed last season, teams coming up from League One can be capable of challenging at the top of the Championship and Brighton have the ability to underline that this term.
Gus Poyet’s men have a new ground, a decent budget and a strong squad so they won’t be phased by playing at a higher level, especially as they open with a home clash against one of the expected strugglers, Doncaster.
The atmosphere inside the Falmer Stadium will be electric as the campaign and set to respond to the bigger stage, the Seagulls are an eye catching 10/11 with Skybet to send Rovers home empty-handed.
Southampton face what looks, on paper, like a tougher task as they entertain Leeds but there is likely to be little between the sides this season and home advantage, allied with the enthusiasm of starting in a higher division, makes Nigel Adkins’ charges an attractive proposition at 13/10 (Paddy Power).
A double on Southampton and Brighton pays out at 17/5 via Stan James.
Leicester meanwhile, are well fancied to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season and they’re well placed to make a flying start as they tackle a team set to be concerned with issues at the other end of the table. Coventry have lost several key players over the summer and expectations are pretty low at the Ricoh Arena, where the Foxes are 11/10 courtesy of bet365 to collect all three points.
Recommended Bets:
Brighton to beat Doncaster – 10/11 (Skybet)
Southampton to beat Leeds – 13/10 (Paddy Power)
Compare all Championship odds and bet at the best price.
