Both the Royals and Boro would have had ambitions on at least making the play-offs this season and they’ve had similar, inconsistent starts, picking up nine and 10 points respectively from their first eight games.
Reading Hoping to Climb
Such is the nature of the second tier, however, that stringing together a few successive wins will lift teams into promotion contention and Reading, on the back of two recent wins, will be eyeing the top six with another victory this weekend.
Veljko Paunovic’s men followed up a 3-1 win over Peterborough by impressively seeing off second-place Fulham 2-1 and therefore look very backable at 39/20 to make it three wins on the spin against the Teessiders, who lost last time out 2-1 at home to Blackpool.
Birmingham Face Tough PNE Test
Birmingham, who sit 10th, generally appear to be moving in the right direction under Lee Bowyer but they will want to get back on track after two defeats to Fulham and Peterborough in their last two games.
Blues caught the eye last month when they went to Luton and hammered them 5-0 before drawing with Barnsley and beating Derby but they could struggle on Saturday as they host a Preston side who are on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
PNE go to St Andrew’s on a high after setting up an EFL Cup fourth-round tie with Liverpool thanks to a 4-1 win over Cheltenham in midweek and an away win, available at 53/20, appeals.
Leaders Bournemouth, who can be backed at 5/8, host Luton with Scott Parker’s side expected to make it four wins in a row, while Bristol City could unfortunately see a backlash from Fulham following that defeat to Reading with the Cottagers, 10/13 to win, likely to come out on top at Ashton Gate.
New Manager Bounce for Forest?
Nottingham Forest will hope for the new manager bounce when they entertain Millwall, who have won just one of their eight games this season.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘀
Next up: Millwall https://t.co/GPsExMVgGo
#NFFC pic.twitter.com/qSDjKIPYYY
— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) September 23, 2021
Steve Cooper has been appointed at the City Ground following Chris Hughton’s exit and he can build on last weekend’s victory over Huddersfield when Steven Reid was in caretaker charge. Forest look decent value at 6/4 to come out on top against the Lions.
More Misery for Derby
Finally, it’s been a miserable week for Derby, who were docked 12 points after entering administration to send them to the bottom of the table on -2 points, and it’s unlikely to improve any time soon for the Rams as they face a tough trip to Sheffield United.
After a slow start, the Blades look to be getting their act together and are unbeaten in four in the Championship, winning two, and only lost on penalties to Premier League Southampton in the EFL Cup in midweek.
Considering Derby’s problems, it’s wise to go with a home win in this at 5/8, while backing Slavisa Jokanovic’s men to score over 2.5 goals at 14/5 also looks worth considering as they’ve scored a total of 14 in their last four games.
*All odds correct at time of writing