Championship Preview: Leicester, Burnley face home challenges

Leicester City’s excellent home record will be tested by Nottingham Forest while Championship leaders Burnley face Bournemouth on Saturday.

Leicester have surged to second in the table as part of an eight-match winning streak at the King Power Stadium, which also included a 4-3 League Cup success against Fulham last week.

Nigel Pearson’s side avenged a cruel play-off semi-final defeat at Watford last season with a 3-0 win at Vicarage Road on Saturday and, just a point behind Burnley in the standings, they could go top with victory over their Midlands rivals.

Forest have struggled recently, winning just one of their last five matches, with successive defeats seeing them slide to sixth.

Burnley’s seven-match league winning streak, meanwhile, was ended at Millwall last weekend, but they did come back from two goals down to snatch a draw at the New Den.

Sean Dyche’s men will be expected to respond well against struggling Bournemouth at Turf Moor, with striker Danny Ings – who has scored eight league goals this season – set to face his former club.

Elsewhere, QPR will look to move into the top two, but they face a stern test against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

Both sides were relegated from the Premier League last term and the fifth-placed Reading will be determined to bounce back from a poor 5-2 loss at Sheffield Wednesday last week.

Another team in play-off contention is Blackpool, who host Ipswich Town, while Watford and Leeds United face winnable road trips.

Gianfranco Zola’s men travel to Middlesbrough looking for their first win in four matches, while Brian McDermott’s Leeds will seek to end their poor away record.

Leeds have lost their last five away trips in all competitions and face a Charlton Athletic side who are unbeaten in five.

At the other end of the table, rock-bottom Yeovil Town host Wigan Athletic on Sunday, while Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers meet in a Yorkshire derby.

Birmingham City dropped into the relegation zone last weekend with a home defeat to Charlton, and they travel to Huddersfield Town.

The league’s top scorer – Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes, who has 10 goals – is in action as Gary Bowyer’s side visit Brighton and Hove Albion, while fast-improving Sheffield Wednesday go to Derby County and Bolton Wanderers host Millwall.