5 Championship Tips to Watch for Gameweek 18 - Get £100 in Free Credits This Weekend

Bournemouth’s stalemate with Swansea City in midweek paved the way for Reading and Norwich City to knock them off top spot, which the Canaries took full advantage of, but the Cherries will be looking to bounce back when they host Huddersfield Town this weekend.

Jason Tindall’s side have hit a few bumps on the road to promotion recently, but they remain unbeaten at home so far this campaign and are the second-highest scorers in the league behind Blackburn Rovers.

Meanwhile, Huddersfield made it two wins in a row for only the second time this season in midweek after a stellar first-half display was enough to see them past Sheffield Wednesday.

However, you never really quite know what to expect from the Terriers, with seven wins and seven losses this season, while they have conceded as many as they have scored with 22.

We do expect Bournemouth to bounce back from their draw in midweek with a win here though, by either a 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 scoreline at 7/4.

This weekend sees the latest iteration of the South Wales derby, with Cardiff City hoping to make it five consecutive wins in a row in the Championship.

The Bluebirds have completely changed their fortunes around recently after a slow start to the season and Sean Morrison made sure to make up for his earlier own goal in midweek by scoring the winner late on away to Stoke to hand them their fourth win in as many games.

Meanwhile, Swansea played out a rather uneventful goalless draw with Bournemouth, but will keep their top six status despite not managing to get the win. However, this weekend could be a perfect opportunity to bounce back against their local rivals, who have failed to register a victory over the Swans since November 2013, when both of these sides were playing in the top flight.

However, with Cardiff finding themselves in a purple patch, this could be a tighter affair than recent history suggests, which is why we’ve tipped both teams to score and the match to end in a draw at 10/3.

Norwich reclaimed their position at the summit in midweek after Emi Buendia’s late winner was enough to scrape past Nottingham Forest. With Reading, Swansea and Bournemouth all dropping points, Daniel Farke will be delighted to move four points clear at this stage of the season.

Blackburn, who host the Canaries this weekend, had their seven-game unbeaten run come to an abrupt end on Wednesday night after Famara Diedhiou’s late winner gave Bristol City a somewhat fortuitous win.

Despite this, Blackburn pose a serious threat going forward and remain the highest scorers in the league, while they have lost just two of their nine home fixtures this season. Whilst we expect the Blue and Whites to push Norwich all the way, the league leaders looked to have regained their form in midweek and should have too much quality for Tony Mowbray’s side.

However, we have tipped top scorer Adam Armstrong to get back on the scoresheet but his side to lose the match at 17/2.

Brentford fell to their second consecutive draw on Wednesday night after being held at home by relegation-threatened Derby County in a rather uneventful draw. It leaves the Bees two points off a play-off place, and Thomas Frank will be eager to return to winning ways this weekend.

Much like their neighbours Derby, Nottingham Forest find themselves in a precarious position this season and currently sit just a point above the relegation zone. Prior to Wednesday’s hard-fought defeat to Norwich, Forest had gone five consecutive games without scoring, and the defeat in midweek means they are now without a win in six games.

With this in mind, we expect Brentford to bounce back from their stalemate with Derby by getting the win and a clean sheet here at 9/4.

Despite a fluctuation in form recently, Watford’s win in midweek ensured they stayed in the top three going into matchday 18. Two goals in the opening 15 minutes from Christian Kabasale and Troy Deeney was enough to see them past Rotherham and keep their record of just one loss at Vicarage Road intact.

However, the Hornets’ away form is worth noting going into this weekend’s fixture, with just one win on the road coming against Derby on matchday five. Out of the eight away games this season, they have scored on just three occasions, drawing five and losing two in the process.

With this weekend’s opponents Birmingham entering the game off the back of two important victories over Reading and Bristol City, we’re expecting this to be a tight affair. Therefore, our tip goes to the match to have under 2.5 goals and the final result to be a draw at 11/4.

By Charlie Rhodes