EFL Championship Matchday 16 Odds & Picks: Tempting +250 Odds Offered for Barnsley Win Over Bournemouth

• The EFL Championship’s Matchday 16 kicks off on Friday with Barnsley vs Bournemouth
• The remaining 11 games all take place on Saturday, including leaders Norwich against Sheffield Wednesday
• We list the odds for all 12 games and preview three, offering our best picks below

Matchday 16 of the EFL Championship kicks off on Friday with Barnsley vs Bournemouth with the remaining 11 games all taking place on Saturday, including leaders Norwich against Sheffield Wednesday. The Canaries’ lead is a slender one, with just four points separating them and tenth-placed Middlesbrough.

Read on to see the odds and our best bets for the weekend’s action below.

EFL Championship Matchday 16 Odds

All odds taken Dec 3 at DraftKings 

EFL Pick 1: Watford vs Cardiff City

Cardiff has started to climb the table after an indifferent start and their midweek win over Huddersfield has taken them up to 12th. Their manager Neil Harris was fearing for his job after a terrible start to the campaign left them in 18th, but two wins on the spin, with seven goals scored and none conceded, has transformed their season. They’re now just six points from the playoff places and only eight behind leaders, Norwich.

⏱️ It wasn't a classic.#NOTWAT pic.twitter.com/pbqvhBRq8u

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) December 2, 2020

After those two consecutive home wins, Harris’ men now have to prove their worth on the road with back-to-back trips to promotion-hopefuls Watford and Stoke City, before a South Wales derby against Swansea City.

Watford’s season has seen them barely leave the top six and they’ve managed to quickly shake off the disappointment of relegation from the EPL. They currently sit in third, a point behind Norwich, but missed the chance to go top in midweek when their trip to the City Ground to play Nottingham Forest ended goal-less. In fact, they’ve struggled a little in front of goal of late, and despite their healthy league position have drawn three of their last four, two of those without scoring a goal.

Back-to-back comprehensive home victories! 💙#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/4Q3gxLfptB

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) December 1, 2020

The Hornets do however have a good home record to draw on and have won more home points than any other team in the league [19 points from seven games] while scoring more home goals [16] than anyone else. They also have a great recent run against Cardiff, winning their last three, and so while Cardiff arrives in good form, with the Hornets in plus-money the home win offers value.

Pick: Watford to win (+108)

EFL Pick 2: Norwich City vs Sheffield Wednesday

Norwich comes into this one as league-leaders but only just. The Canaries have picked up only a single point in their last two games and only stayed top after their 3-1 midweek defeat by Luton Town because the teams around them, including Watford and Bournemouth, failed to capitalize. Manager Daniel Farke has a horrendous injury list to contend with; no less than 13 members of his first-team squad are unavailable.

Full-time. pic.twitter.com/uFb0dT0Fbf

— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) December 2, 2020

On paper, the visit of 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday should offer a good chance to get back to winning ways but while top-scorer Teemu Pukki may be available, it will still be a threadbare squad that Farke has available to him.

For Wednesday, who managed a goalless draw in midweek at home to Reading, it has been a traumatic season; one that started with a 12-point deduction due to financial anomalies (reduced on appeal to six) and which also saw them replace manager Garry Monk with the experienced Tony Pullis.

A tough night but the lads were up for the battle 👊

On to Saturday at Norwich 🔵⚪️#swfc pic.twitter.com/Gaa0JxtPD6

— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) December 3, 2020

Under Pulis, Wednesday are much harder to beat and they meet Norwich at a good time. The Wednesday win at +340 is worthy of consideration, but the real value is with the +215 for the draw.

Pick: Norwich and Wednesday to draw (+215)

EFL Pick 3: Barnsley vs Bournemouth

Bournemouth, like Norwich, has hit a blip at the wrong time. A disappointing 2-2 draw away at Rotherham last weekend was followed by an even more disappointing 3-2 home defeat by Preston on Tuesday night – made worse by the fact that at one stage they were 3-0 down. The Cherries now face back-to-back away games at Barnsley and Swansea; games that will test their promotion credentials and also the mentality of Jason Tindall’s squad.

Good morning 👋 pic.twitter.com/rYGn4V09X4

— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) December 2, 2020

Barnsley has yet to find consistency this season but their 1-0 home win over Watford on Matchday 9 shows they are capable of beating anyone in this division when they ‘click’ and they come in off the back of a useful 2-1 away win in Birmingham.

Another double matchweek 😍 pic.twitter.com/01pdeYyj2p

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) November 30, 2020

Given the faltering form of the Cherries, the +250 on offer for the home win looks excellent value.

Pick: Barnsley to win (+250)