Football Champions Outrights

With the Championship taking a break for the international period here is our guide to how the outright markets are shaping.

Seven points clear of their nearest rivals and with a game in hand Cardiff would have to do something special to not land the Championship title. Bookmakers agree making them as short as 1/10 (general). The race really is on for second place between Hull, Crystal Palace and Watford. With eight games to play Hull hold the advantage on 68 points ahead of Watford on 66 and Crystal Palace on 65. The lack of form these three are showing is worrying and is not beyond possibility that they are caught by Nottingham Forest on 60 points. Forest have won each of their last six games and will not have given up on second place. A few weeks ago we tipped them up at a much bigger price though that said the 7/2 (general) on offer still looks decent value considering they will certainly make the play-offs and are still in the mix for automatic promotion.

Sticking with the promotion market you can get 10/11 (betfred) that Hull are promoted, while Watford are 5/4 (bet365/Coral/betway) and Crystal Palace are 9/4 (BetVictor/betway).

Leicester currently occupy the sixth promotion spot but are on a dreadful run of form and do not appeal at 4/1 (betfred/Coral) for promotion while Brighton are 5/1 (general).

I like the look of Bolton at 10/1 (bet365/Coral/You Win) in this market as they are just five points behind Leicester in the race for sixth and are in much better form than this duo winning five of their last six league games.

If the race at the top is tight then so too is the battle to avoid the drop where four of the bottom six won their last game. Bristol City currently sit bottom on 39 points but all the way upto Burnley in eleventh is just ten points and just seven above Peterborough who are third bottom. Bristol City are 4/11 (Coral) to go down and although they have improved since the appointment of Sean O’Driscoll the issues of winning away from home could cost them their safety this season. Peterborough are 8/11 (Skybet/paddy Power/Coral) to go down though Posh are now just one point from safety and have just one loss from their last five games. Wolves are 13/10 (bet365) to go down though with two wins from their last three they have also started to show life.

With so many teams seperated by so few points and with all the sides at the bottom showing signs of life then I think this is a market where it makes sense to take one or two teams at a bigger price to get sucked into the battle. One such side I was thinking of tipping up was Blackburn though their decision to sack Michael Appleton means I might just wait. Appleton was a strange appointment at the time and he could have been in charge of three sides who may get relegated this season, Blackpool, Blackburn and Portsmouth which is a remarkable feature. It makes sense to see if Blackburn get a manager in before their next game.

Sticking with Blackpool it is them who scream out value in the relegation market at an incredible 12/1 (sportingbet). Paul Ince was a poor choice as manager and he has seen his side pick up just one win from his time in charge. The Tangerines are struggling to find the back of the net and failed to fire in five of their last seven league games. They sit just four points from safety and still have a number of games to be caught. This looks a great bet.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Blackpool to be relegated from the Championship, 12/1 (sportingbet)
SILVER: Nottingham Forest to be promoted from the Championship, 7/2 (general)
BRONZE: Bolton to be promoted from the Championship, 10/1 (bet365/Coral/You Win)

Go To bet365

#Ad

22/03/2013     © Frixo 2024