EFL Championship Matchday 46 Odds & Picks

• Final round of 12 fixtures in England’s second-tier begin at 2:30 pm EST on Wednesday
• WBA, Brentford and Fulham battle for second place and automatic promotion
• See all odds and best bets for England’s EFL Championship Matchday 46

England’s EFL championship stages its final day of Round 46 matches on Wednesday with Leeds United already crowned as champions.

West Bromwich Albion, Brentford and Fulham are involved in a three-way fight for the second automatic promotion place. Nine clubs face the potential threat of relegation.

All 12 games kick off at 2:30 pm EST.

England EFL Championship Matchday 46 Odds

All odds taken July 20

Pick 1: Brentford vs Barnsley

Brentford are in third place but are still in with a shout of claiming the second spot currently held by West Bromwich Albion.

On a tense final day, west London side Brentford will leap into the division’s runners-up spot if they  win or draw at home against second-from-bottom club Barnsley and WBA lose at home to Queens Park Rangers.

If WBA draw and Brentford win, the London side go up.

A surprise defeat at Stoke City last Saturday ended a run of eight straight wins for Thomas Frank’s Brentford team.

Meanwhile, Barnsley’s shock 1-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest was their first win in five games and has given them a chance to stay up.

However, the oddsmakers strongly fancy an instant return to form for an impressive Brentford team and make them -278 favorites for a home win. Barnsley are priced at +660 with the draw at +370.

Brentford will be fired up after squandering the chance to take second place and thereby put automatic promotion in their hands  last weekend.

Brentford are the competition’s leading scorers with a tally of 79 and the spread offer of a win by at least two goals at -121 looks promising value among those games with something at stake.

This is especially true because Brentford will be fired up after squandering the chance to take second place and thereby put automatic promotion in their hands  last weekend.

😊 So proud tonight. pic.twitter.com/0dKpm5Lkn3

— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) July 19, 2020

They have the best home record in the division with 14 wins, five draws and three defeats and have scored no fewer than 43 times at their Griffin Park HQ.

Their forward Ollie Watkins is the Championship’s second-leading marksman with 25 goals.

Against that and despite the fact they will be fighting for possible survival, Barnsley have the worst away record in the league with only four wins, four draws and four defeats – conceding 35 times and scoring 18.

Pick: Brentford -1,-1½ (-121)

Pick 2: Wigan Athletic vs Fulham

Fulham are another London club with a chance of claiming the automatic second place promotion place.

If they win at Wigan Athletic, a defeat for WBA and a failure to win by Brentford would send Fulham straight up.

However, Wigan are fighting for survival because they could drop into the bottom three because of a potential 12-point deduction imposed after they went into financial administration. An appeal has been made against the punishment.

Fulham are narrow outsiders for an away win at +162 with Wigan favored at +160.

The draw is +220 and looks the best value because while Fulham are on an excellent run of five wins and a draw, Wigan are also one of the division’s form teams.

Fulham have the division’s leading scorer, Alexandr Mitrovic, who has 26 goals.

Despite their problems off the field, Wigan have won eight times, drawn three and lost only once in a run stretching back to February.

They hammered current bottom club Hull City 8-0 on 14 July.

A home win is vital for Wigan’s chances of beating the threat of the drop after they squandered a lead in added time to draw 2-2 at Charlton Athletic last Saturday.

So who’s going down? Can’t believe we won’t know what punishment ⁦@LaticsOfficial⁩ are facing going into the Final day on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/WYfgcRg2HY

— Ian Abrahams (Moose) (@BroadcastMoose) July 18, 2020

They are in 13^th place with 58 points but the potential deduction by the EFL authorities would plunge them into the bottom three.

Fulham have the division’s leading scorer, Alexandr Mitrovic, who has 26 goals.

They are the fifth-best side away from home with eight wins, nine draws and five defeats. Wigan is 10^th-best at home with 10 wins, six draws and six defeats.

Pick: Draw +220

Pick 3: Birmingham City vs Derby County

Birmingham City are in 20^th place and are not assured of safety from relegation. In poor form themselves, they are at home against a Derby County team who have missed out on the playoffs after four straight defeats.

That is a deceptive run for Derby, however. All those setbacks came against top-six sides – WBA, Cardiff City, Brentford and Leeds.

Meanwhile, Birmingham have not won in 13 games and parted company with coach Pep Clotet last week.

That makes the offer of +164 for Derby to end the season with a restorative win the best value on offer here.

Tough afternoon against very good opposition. That being said after going 1-0 up we have to be disappointed with the way the game ended.#DCFC #DCFCFans 🐏 pic.twitter.com/9LIYSaVUIX

— ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕤 (@TheCurtisDavies) July 19, 2020

Birmingham are also rated at +164 with the draw at +210;  also good value.

Also slightly deceptively, Birmingham have drawn seven times and lost six games in that 13-match run. But they have lost four of their last five fixtures and look vulnerable again on Wednesday.

Pick: Derby County +164