Saturday Championship Tips: Cottagers can make amends for opening day blip

Jack Critchley
07 August 2019

Scott Parker is looking for his first victory as a Championship boss

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It's week two of the 2019-2020 Championship season, and Jack Critchley is backing recently relegated Fulham to bounce back against defensively suspect Blackburn...

"The hosts may have found life tough in the top flight, but they remained undefeated in each of the last 16 home games of their promotion winning campaign."

Fulham's forward line to trouble Mowbray's men

Fulham 1.804/5 v Blackburn 4.77/2; The Draw 3.953/1

Fulham endured a tough start to life back in the Championship with an opening day defeat to Barnsley. However they did show enough in the second half to suggest that it was merely a blip. Daniel Stendel has never lost a home game since arriving in South Yorkshire, and credit must go to the German boss for making life incredibly tough for Scott Parker's men. This weekend's fixture is expected to be a little easier.

The Cottagers will be pleased to get back to the familiar surroundings of west London this weekend, and they'll be delighted to see leaky Blackburn Rovers pitch up by the Thames. The hosts may have found life tough in the top flight, but they remained undefeated in each of the last 16 home games of their promotion winning campaign, and they should be able to stretch that remarkable run on Saturday afternoon.

Despite failing to find the net, they registered an XG of 1.7 (compared to Barnsley's 1.9) with Aboubakar Kamara looking particularly lively in the final third. AK47 has his detractors, but there's no doubt that on his day he can be a complete handful, and his direct style will test Blackburn's defence.

Tony Mowbray stengthened his squad this summer, but he failed to address the defence. They shipped twice to Charlton last weekend, and conceded yet another goal from a set-piece. With just one clean sheet in 17 away games, they will find life tough once again. Blackburn also conceded 44 of their 66 goals in the second half last season, and their lack of concentration at the back is concerning.

Fulham will surely be able to capitalise on a slightly shaky Blackburn back-line, and can be backed at 1.84/5 on the Exchange this weekend. It wouldn't be a surprise to see this one feature plenty of goals, and Over 2.5 Goals is available at 6/10 on the Sportsbook, but we'll stick with the Cottagers to get their predicted title challenge back on track.

New look Middlesbrough should continue to entertain

Middlesbrough 2.526/4 v Brentford 2.982/1; The Draw 3.55/2

Middlesbrough's 3-3 draw against Luton was an early contender for game of the season, and although the match was littered with defensive howlers, it was a refreshing change from the turgid, uninspiring style that was served up under Tony Pulis.

The Teessiders were woefully short of creativity last season, and the Riverside Stadium witnessed just 40 goals across the entire campaign (23 for the hosts) - no wonder the natives were getting restless!

However, the early signs suggest that it'll be far more entertaining this time around. Jonathan Woodgate has already improved their attacking output, and an XG of 1.9 at Kennilworth Road suggests it could be fruitful to follow the goals at the Riverside this campaign. Although the squad remains relatively small, there are plenty of attacking options available with both Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher getting on the scoresheet last weekend. The former found the net, but also spurned a golden opportunity from the spot.

Brentford inexpicably failed to find the net against Birmingham, with the Bees hitting the woodwork on three occasions. The departure of Neal Maupay is an obvious concern, but the West Londoners still have an abundance of creativity in their squad, and at the time of writing have been linked with both Lyle Taylor and Amien's Saman Ghoddos.

The visitors kept just three clean sheets on the road last season with only Bolton, Wigan and Birmingham failing to find the net when hosting Thomas Frank's men. Birmingham created one chance at Griffin Park, and scored it, which could suggest that Brentford's defence could still be acclimatising to a summer of change.

I'm not a huge believer in head-to-head betting, but each of last season's meetings finished 2-1 - high-scoring by ex-Boro boss Tony Pulis' standards.

Goals are expected here, and we can extract some value by using the Sportsbook's Same Game Multi.

Over 2.5 Goals and Both Teams to Score can be combined, for a very tempting return of 21/10.

Stoke's struggles in front of goal to continue at the Valley

Charlton 3.45 v Stoke 2.3211/8; The Draw 3.259/4

Nathan Jones' frustrations at Stoke continued last weekend as the Welshman watched his side give away two preventable goals at home to QPR. Admittedly, the Potters did look better once they'd reverted back to 4-4-2, but the former Luton boss is likely to persist with his favoured diamond formation here.

He's now won just three games since moving to Staffordshire, and despite overhauling his squad this summer, many fans are yet to be convinced by his ability to get the club back into the Premier League.

He helped tighten them up on arrival, and their defence does look solid enough, yet problems in the final third continue to plague the Potters. They've netted just three of their last 80 shots in the Championship, and they have also missed five of their last seven penalties.
Despite having the likes of Sam Vokes and Benik Afobe at their disposal, sticking the ball in the back of the net continues to be an issue. They have added Scott Hogan this week, although he isn't likely to start this game.

That doesn't bode well for this trip to south London, where they will be taking on a highly spirited Charlton side. Lee Bowyer must take enormous credit for his side's performances over the last 12 months, and they are currently on an unbeaten run of 17 matches at the Valley. Admittedly, they were plying their trade in League One last season, but it's hard to argue with 13-4-0 home record at any level.

Stoke have not won in the Capital since 2014, and they haven't been victorious at this particular stadium since 1997. On current evidence, it's going to be hard to buck those trends. The Potters also won just three times on the road last year, failing to collect three points on their travels between October 27th and April 6th.

Charlton Draw No Bet is 5/4 on the Betfair Sportsbook, and looks a relatively safe way of approaching this Championship fixture.

You can follow Jack Critchley on Twitter @jcritch7

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