England Championship Matchday 39 Odds & Betting Previews

• Matchday 39 in the English Championship with games starting Friday with Fulham vs West Brom
• Leeds and West Brom are closing in on the top two automatic promotion places
• We list the odds for all 12 games and preview three, offering our best picks

It’s Week 39 of the English Championship, with Leeds and West Brom looking to clinch promotion to the Premier League over the next eight games. Behind them, a real scramble is developing for the playoff places.

We’ll list the whole schedule for Week 39, show the odds, preview three games, and offer a pick for each.

English Championship Matchday 39 Odds

All odds taken June 26

Pick 1: Brentford vs West Brom

Brentford’s outstanding 2-0 win at Fulham last Saturday kept alive their faint hopes of automatic promotion. It took them to within seven points of this weekend’s opponents West Brom, knowing a win at Griffin Park will close that gap to four with seven to play.  A win here for the Bees will make it three on the spin and they appear to be hitting form at precisely the right time.

For the Baggies, the restart didn’t go as planned and in a bitty, disjointed performance against Birmingham, they drew 0-0, although it was still enough to take them back to the top of the table on goal difference. West Brom will still believe though that automatic promotion is their’s for the taking and avoiding defeat by their biggest threat to that top-two spot will be a major step on the way.

Given the natural attacking instincts of both teams, I’m tempted to say there’ll be goals in this but given its magnitude, I have an inkling that West Brom manager Slaven Bilic will see this as one not to lose rather than win at all costs. So, for me, there’s value in the draw.

Pick: Brentford and West Brom to draw (+215)

Pick 2: Leeds Utd vs Fulham

Second-placed Leeds’ return didn’t go as planned when they were soundly beaten 2-0 in Cardiff and, while they still enjoy a healthy seven-point over third-placed Brentford, it will have set a few alarm bells ringing. Last season they were in the top two for most of the season before imploding over the final ten games; an unhealthy trait they’ve picked up over the last few years where promotion opportunities have been regularly spurned. ‘Leeds are falling apart again’ has become a mantra for opposition fans and this will make for a nervous atmosphere around Elland Road.

Fulham, still reeling from the home defeat by Brentford, are dangerous opponents as they too still have a faint hope of automatic promotion.  While the Brentford performance was below-par, it’s a talented squad that Scott Parker has assembled and in Aleksandar Mitrovic, they have the Championship’s best striker. So, for those who like a juicy outsider, there’s definitely value here in the Fulham win.

Pick: Fulham to win (+350)

Pick 3: Stoke City vs Middlesbrough

Stoke restarted the campaign with a solid 1-1 draw away at Reading but there’s still plenty of work to be done for Michael O’Neill’s men. Their point at the Madjeski Stadium took them up to 18th in the table but they remain just two slender points clear of the relegation zone.

Middlesbrough’s plight is even bleaker and after suffering a 3-0 home defeat by Swansea they dropped to 21st, just one point clear of the drop zone but only on goal difference. So concerned were the Boro board, they sacked manager Jonathan Woodgate and replaced him with the veteran trouble-shooter, Neil Warnock.

If anyone can get Boro out of this mess it’s Warnock and given his ability to get the very best out of squads, often at very short notice, there’s every chance here of an away win.

Pick: Middlesbrough to win (+215)