Saturday Championship Tipsheet: Unstoppable Boro look value once again

Mike Norman
14 January 2016

Boro's Dimi Konstantopoulos has kept nine Championship clean sheets in a row

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Middlesbrough are starting to build up a healthy advantage in the Championship and Mike Norman believes they're an excellent price to win again as he looks forward to a trio of Saturday's games in England's second tier...

"Aitor Karanka's men have now recorded nine consecutive league clean sheets, which equals the all-time record (Chelsea 1905, Leeds 1928), and they've moved six points clear at the top of the table after taking 25 of the last 27 points available to them."

Back Middlesbrough @ 2.021/1 to beat Bristol City

Bristol City 4.57/2 v Middlesbrough 2.021/1; The Draw 3.412/5

I imagine Middlesbrough will be a lot of punters' banker this weekend at even money or above because quite simply, on current form, Boro should be 1.75/7 to win this.

Yes, they are going to lose sometime, they are going to draw sometime, but at the moment they aren't even conceding a goal!

Aitor Karanka's men have now recorded nine consecutive league clean sheets, which equals the all-time record (Chelsea 1905, Leeds 1928), and they've moved six points clear at the top of the table after taking 25 of the last 27 points available to them.

There's been a few below-par performances in that golden run of form admittedly, but Boro are still winning and they're still shutting teams out. Away wins at Brighton and Ipswich were very impressive and Karanka's men have now won four on the spin on their travels.

So what about Bristol City? Surely they must be going great guns if we can back the best team in the Championship at even money to win this game? Far from it!

Steve Cotterill's men have won just one of their last 12 outings, and that was against a massively-out-of-form Huddersfield. In the last six weeks they've lost 3-0 to Rotherham, and suffered 4-0 hidings at the hands of Derby and Burnley, while in midweek they lost at home to mid-table Preston. They currently sit 22nd in the table with a goal difference of -23.

I'm amazed Boro aren't odds-on to win this, I really don't think playing away from home matters that much to this side, and I'll be even more amazed if they don't return to Teesside with three points.

Then again, I was amazed when Bristol City came to the Riverside early in the season and won 1-0!

Recommended Bet
Back Middlesbrough to Win @ 2.021/1 (best bet)

Blackburn 2.68/5 v Brighton 3.02/1; The Draw 3.412/5

It's now at the point where you just look for Brighton in the fixture list and you oppose them whoever they are playing.

I'll say it one last time, they deserved enormous credit for the start they made to the season but I always felt that they were overrated and would endure a poor run of form sooner rather than later.

Chris Hughton's men are now on an awful run of form, eight games without a win and counting. Admittedly, Brighton's fixtures from early December looked tough, having to face the likes of QPR, Derby, Brentford, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Wolves, and Hull in the FA Cup (all those sides are in the hunt for either promotion or a play-off place), but not to win just one of those games was very disappointing.

In addition to the games already mentioned, The Seagulls then fluffed their easiest task for a while when losing 2-0 to lowly Rotherham in midweek, and that means that Hughton's men have failed to score a single goal in any of their last six outings. Very worrying form indeed.

Blackburn aren't exactly in stunning form themselves, but they at least broke a three-game losing run by drawing with QPR on Tuesday night, and they've also recorded three league wins and a further draw since Brighton last won a game.

So Rovers go into this game in better form, although only slightly, but it's Brighton's dreadful form and severe lack of goals that makes me want to oppose them.

Recommended Bet
Back Blackburn to Win @ 2.68/5

Ipswich 2.111/10 v Preston 4.1; The Draw 3.613/5

Ipswich are up to fifth after a come-from-behind win over Leeds in midweek and Mick McCarthy's men look like real promotion contenders.

The Tractor Boys might just fall short of the likes of Derby and Middlesbrough in terms of ability and squad depth, but what they're doing currently is beating the teams they're expected to beat and picking up points regularly.

McCarthy's men have won five of their last seven with their only defeat coming narrowly against the aforementioned Derby, and in recent weeks they've defeated Brighton, QPR, and Leeds as well as holding Burnley, so they're on a strong run of form at the moment.

Preston are in decent form themselves having won three on the spin in the Championship but just one of those victories was away from home - to relegation threatened Bristol City - and prior to that they'd lost three consecutive away games to Leeds, Huddersfield, and League One side Peterborough in the FA Cup.

There's no doubt Simon Grayson's men will go to Portman Park in confident mood, but playing an in-form Ipswich side will be Preston's toughest test for a good few weeks and it's one that I don't expect them to pass.

Recommended Bet
Back Ipswich to Win @ 2.111/10

***

*You can follow me on Twitter - @MikkyMo73

**For a preview of every single live game in England's second tier, provided by Andy Tongue, simply visit our dedicated Championship section here on Betting.Betfair.

Championship 2015/16 Season P/L

Staked: 92 pts
Returned: 83.80 pts
P/L: -8.20 pts

*based on 1pt each bet, 2pts best bet

**2014/15 P/L = +21.78 pts from 164 staked (ROI = 13.28%)

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