Live on BBC 1: Sat 12.45: Norwich are evens (bet365) to beat Scunthorpe in a game with over 2 goals while Leeds and Forest are live on TV.
Norwich currently occupy the second spot in the Championship and Paul Lambert’s troops should tighten their grip on the automatic promotion berth by getting the better of struggling Scunthorpe at Carrow Road.
The Canaries have solid record at home and have lost only one of their last 17 league matches. By contrast, the Iron have lost six out of seven in their seemingly inevitable descent into League One and even a change of manager did nothing to revive their fortunes as they went down 2-0 at Ipswich last time out.
Norwich are a banker then but at 2/5 with Sportingbet it’s best to find a way to make a home win a touch more profitable and it’s goals that could be the key. Norwich aren’t short of goals while Scunthorpe tend to find it hard keeping them out; couple this with the fact that the Canaries’ 19 home matches have averaged more than three goals each and a strong case can be made for bet365’s even money marked against Lambert’s charges coming out on top in a game that produces more than 2.5.
At Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace can make their strength at home count as they square up to Barnsley. The Eagles haven’t lost on their own patch for twelve games and they know that victory will take them seven points clear of danger, at least temporarily, with Sheffield United visiting leaders QPR 24 hours later.
For their part, the Tykes are pretty dismal on the road, in fact only Palace themselves have managed fewer away wins and it’s Dougie Freedman’s side that can do the business in this one, at odds of 6/5 with Skybet.
Swansea hope the loan signing of striker Fabio Borini from Chelsea can prove pivotal in the promotion race and the Italian made an impressive start to life at the Liberty Stadium by notching twice as Brendan Rodgers’ men overcame Nottingham Forest.
Bottom club Preston are up next for the Swans, who are Stan James’ 11/10 favourites but as Phil Brown’s strugglers have registered back-to-back wins, it might be worth turning attention to Borini himself at Deepdale. Brimming with confidence following his debut, the youngster is likely to be presented with at least one opportunity against a less than water tight home defence and he tempts at 9/5 with Paddy Power to find the net at some stage.
Leeds and Forest battle it out on the BBC and with both teams not sparkling like they were a month ago, this one looks as though it’s heading for a draw, something Betfred chalk up at 23/10. In fact, the last two meetings between these two has been one a piece and a hattrick of 1-1’s is 6/1 with 888sport.
Scrapping for their lives meanwhile, Sheffield United are 13/2 () to land all three points at table-topping QPR, managed of course by former Blades boss Neil Warnock. It takes something of a leap of faith to want to pile in, even at that price but it’s not impossible for Rangers to take their foot off the gas with the title almost in the bag and punters seeking a long shot could do worse.
Recommended Bets:
Crystal Palace to beat Barnsley – 6/5 (Skybet)
Norwich to beat Scunthorpe and over 2.5 goals in the game – evens (bet365)
Fabio Borini to score at any time for Swansea – 9/5 (Paddy Power)
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