EFL Championship Matchday 40 Odds & Picks

• England’s EFL Championship stages 12 Round 40 fixtures in mid-week
• Derby County have won four straight as they meet playoff rivals Preston North End
• See all odds and best bets for England EFL Championship Round 40 matches

England’s EFL Championship continues its re-start with a full fixture list of 12 Round 40 matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Leeds United are league leaders ahead of second-placed West Bromwich Albion.

With Brentford, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Cardiff City occupying the next four places, the meeting beneath them of Preston North End and Derby County is critical in the battle to break into the playoff places.

EFL Championship Round 40 Odds

Odds taken June 29

Pick 1: Preston North End vs Derby County

Derby County have made an impressive re-start to the campaign and travel on Wednesday to meet a Preston North End team whose playoff challenge is faltering significantly.

Philip Cocu’s fluent Derby team are expertly marshaled from deep midfield by superstar veteran Wayne Rooney and have won both games since play resumed.

Preston, meanwhile, lost three straight matches before the shut-down. After then drawing 1-1 with Luton Town in their first return fixture they were subsequently beaten 3-1 at home by in-form Cardiff City last weekend.

Oddsmakers’ price of +185 for the Derby win at 12:00 pm EST on Wednesday at Preston’s Deepdale home is very attractive.

Derby have climbed from 12^th place to eighth after beating Millwall  3-2 in their first game back and then following up with a 2-1 win against Reading

Preston, in seventh place, is priced at  +146 with the draw at +210.

Derby have climbed from 12^th place to eighth after beating Millwall away from home 3-2 in their first game back and then following up with a 2-1 home win against Reading.

That made it a stretch of four successive wins following their defeats of Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers before the close-down.

💬 Ben Pearson was disappointed he couldn’t mark his 150th appearance for the club with a win as North End couldn't take momentum from their equalising goal against Cardiff City at Deepdale.

➡️ https://t.co/q3PTzbmFEd #pnefc pic.twitter.com/YA5lgyAd9u

— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) June 27, 2020

However, Preston have the fifth-best home record in the competition with 11 wins, three draws and six defeats – although they have lost three of their last four fixtures on their own patch.

Despite victories in their last two away games, Derby still have the sixth-worst away statistics with only four wins, five draws and 10 defeats.

Pick: Derby County +185

Pick 2: Birmingham City vs Huddersfield Town

Birmingham City have drawn no fewer than six of their last seven matches and look set to share the points again at home against struggling Huddersfield Town on Wednesday.

Huddersfield had won twice in three games before the shut-down – with the defeat in that run coming against league leaders Leeds United.

But they have made a poor re-start with two straight defeats and will be desperate to stop the rot at Birmingham after dropping from 18^th to 22^nd place.

Sportsbooks have a price of +220 for a draw at 1:00 pm EST at St. Andrews on Wednesday looks promising. A win for 16^th-placed Birmingham is priced at+133 with Huddersfield at +196.

Birmingham returned to action with a 0-0 home draw against West Bromwich Albion.

That was followed by a 3-3 draw away against struggling Hull City.

Birmingham’s home record is poor and they have the third-worst record in  the division with six wins, six draws and seven defeats.

It was the third occasion in the most recent six games in which Birmingham have conceded three goals.

That gives Huddersfield hope of a point at least after they were beaten 2-0 by in-form Wigan Athletic in their first return game and then succumbed 3-1 at fourth-placed Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Danny Cowley has managed 31 league games for Huddersfield town this season picking up 1.21 points per match . If Cowley had started the campaign with the terriers with this form we would currently be on 48 points in 17th position – who is at fault , the cowleys or siewert ? 📉⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MDAoxmW0sX

— Talkofthetown✍️ (@talkofthetown24) June 28, 2020

Birmingham’s home record is poor and they have the third-worst record in the division with six wins, six draws and seven defeats.

On the road, Huddersfield are just as unimpressive with only four wins, four draws and 11 defeats.

Pick: Draw +220

Pick 3: Hull City vs Middlesbrough

Veteran manager Neil Warnock, 71, has returned again to take charge of Middlesbrough in the 18^th posting of his career.

He made an immediate impact after the sacking of Jonathan Woodgate with a 2-0 away win against Stoke City last weekend.

In 19^th place, Middlesbrough are well-priced to beat dismal Hull City away from home on Thursday at + 122.

Hull are rated at +210 for the game which is at 12:00 pm EST at Hull’s KCOM stadium. The draw is +225.

Warnock was called in by Middlesbrough after they suffered a depressing 3-0 home defeat by Swansea City in their first return match.

Hull have the worst home record with six wins, three draws and 11 defeats.

They had won just once, drawn once and lost three times prior to the shut-down.

Hull have taken just two points with two draws and nine defeats in the 11 games since their last win on New Year’s Day.

https://twitter.com/Deano795/status/1276907916856000512?s=20

They lost 1-0 at home against Charlton Athletic after the re-start but conceded a late equalizer to draw 3-3 at home against Birmingham City last weekend.

Hull have the league’s worst home record with six wins, three draws and 11 defeats.

Middlesbrough have won four times on the road while drawing six and losing nine times.

Pick: Middlesbrough +122