Norwich City will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table as they welcome Swansea City to Carrow Road in Friday evening’s Championship fixture.
The Canaries won for a fifth time in six matches last weekend and another victory here will put them past the seventy-point mark with ten left to play.
Their opponents have a mountain to climb if they are going to be playing top-flight football next season, though three points here will see them move to within four of the play-off places ahead of Saturday’s fixtures, which begin with a Lancashire derby.
Slump
Blackburn Rovers, who have taken just one point from the last eighteen available to them will be hoping to arrest their slump against Preston North End while also kicking off early is Rotherham United’s short trip to automatic promotion hopefuls Sheffield United.
The Millers are unbeaten in six but remain in the bottom three with five of those games ending all square.
Their win over Blackburn last time out did put them to within touching distance of twenty-first place Reading, who host Wigan Athletic later in the day.
Chase
The Blades will move into the top two if they beat their local rivals and may well stay there with the current occupiers of second place – Leeds United facing a tough trip to sixth place Bristol City.
The Robins, who recently put together a thirteen-game unbeaten streak in the league have now taken just one point from their last three matches and will be keen to return to winning ways with a clutch of sides hot on their coattails in the race for a top-six spot.
Derby County, who came from behind to beat Wigan midweek are the best placed of those sides and will look to capitalise on any potential slip ups by Lee Johnson’s side as they host Sheffield Wednesday while Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion, who have been sitting at the top end of the table for the majority of the season, host Brentford and Ipswich Town respectively.
Push
Two sides pushing for the play-offs go head to head at the City Ground with ninth placed Nottingham Forest taking on Hull City in tenth, while arguably the pick of the weekend’s fixtures takes place on Sunday afternoon, with Birmingham City hosting Aston Villa in the second city derby.
The reverse fixture at Villa Park was an entertaining affair with six goals, five yellow cards and plenty of drama and you can back a red card this time around at a price of 5/2.
Elsewhere this weekend, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City meet hoping to pull themselves further towards safety, while second-from-bottom Bolton Wanderers welcome Millwall, knowing they must surely get a positive result if they are to give themselves any chance of getting out of trouble.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
