Championship Betting Preview: Sousa's Swans can grab first win against Royals

Championship / Andrew French / 18 August 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Home advantage is key in tonight's battle of two sides needing a shot of confidence, and I take Swansea to edge it at [2.72]."

After both lost to North East clubs at the weekend, home advantage will be crucial when two sides in transition meet in South Wales on Tuesday night, says Andrew French. Elsewhere, Middlesbrough aim to keep up their impressive start and Roy Keane's men can pile on the misery for Palace.

It's unlikely that Swansea and Reading will occupy the bottom two places in the Championship come May, but after a slow start to the season, that's where the pair sit going into tonight's clash at The Liberty Stadium.

However, I think Swansea can shake off Saturday's heavy home defeat to Middlesbrough and pick up three points for the first time under manager Paulo Sousa. The loss of striker Jason Scotland is as difficult for the Swans to overcome as it will be for them to adapt to Sousa's way of doing things after the departure of former boss Roberto Martinez. It could be that former-Queen of the South hitman Stephen Dobbie, who netted twice in the Carling Cup last week, is the player to take over from Scotland.

Visitors Reading have also had to cope with an exodus of players and the arrival of new manager Brendan Rodgers, and they too were soundly beaten at Newcastle on Saturday. I think home advantage is key in this battle of two sides needing a shot of confidence, and I take Swansea to edge it at [2.72].

If the current bottom two are unexpected, then it's as much of a surprise to see Coventry boasting the only 100% record at the top. They were very mid-table last season, but striker Clinton Morrison (who has more than enough ability to be prolific at this level) has netted three in times in back-to-back league wins. They visit Doncaster, who have opened with a couple of draws having eventually pulled well clear of the drop last season. Sean O'Driscoll will want to make Rovers a tough nut to crack as keeping out of trouble again will do them nicely. Because I can't be confident that the Sky Blues good start is anything more than flattering to deceive, I won't suggest backing them to win - instead, I'd advise laying Donny at [2.32].

I wasn't overly keen on Middlesbrough's chances before a ball was kicked, but you can't ignore the way they saw off one of last season's better Championship outfits, Swansea, at the weekend. That was Boro's first away league win since November, but the fact they hit three goals and now have consecutive clean sheets makes me think they have hit the ground running. They visit Scunthorpe, who edged Derby in a five-goal thriller on Saturday but were trounced 4-0 at Cardiff on the opening day. When you look at what Gareth Southgate still has at his disposal, you realise that if they do put it together (and there's always a question mark about relegated sides) then they ought to have the beating of most of this division. Therefore, at [2.4], I'm opting for a Boro win tonight.

Neil Warnock vented his anger quite publicly at Bristol City manager Gary Johnson when Crystal Palace were denied a clear goal by a crazy piece of officiating on Saturday. Whether Warnock would be quite so bold should anything controversial unfold at Portman Road tonight is another matter - with Roy Keane in the adjacent dug-out. Palace's very unfortunate defeat at Ashton Gate on Saturday will either galvanise them or demoralise them: either way, I don't fancy their chances at Ipswich, who are without a win so far. Keane will not be pleased with a return of one point from two games and I expect an improved performance - back the Tractor Boys at [1.97].