Our Championship Tips for the Weekend - 20/11/21

Second-from-top meets second-from-bottom this weekend, as Fulham welcome Barnsley to Craven Cottage. The London outfit are the most in-form team in the division at the minute, as Scott Parker’s men go about an instant return to the Premier League.

Fulham have won their last six games, including the 7-0 thumping away at Blackburn two weeks ago and it leaves the Cottagers in second in the league, two points off first-placed Bournemouth. It’s been the opposite run of form for the visitors, with Barnsley sitting in the relegation zone after losing eight of their last nine league games. The Yorkshire outfit are four points adrift of Peterborough in 21st.

Aleksandr Mitrovic has been in fine form this season with 20 goals in 17 Championship games. Now, fresh from firing his national team into the World Cup, the Serbian international will be looking to add to his tally against a struggling Barnsley.

Stoke City can keep their good form going and consolidate their place in a play-off position when Peterborough visit the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday. The Potters are unbeaten in their last three league games, with back-to-back away 1-0 away wins at Luton Town and Blackpool. Now, Michael O’Neil’s men are fifth in the table, with two points separating them from fourth-placed Coventry.

Peterborough on the other hand are winless in their last three league games, losing to Fulham last time out. Jacob Brown has been enjoying himself for Stoke lately, so much so he received his first Scotland call-up following his five goals and four assists in the Championship so far. Brown came on as a sub against Andorra before being named as an unused sub in the triumph over Denmark.

After scoring the winner in Stoke’s last game against Luton, the 23-year-old will want to continue his fine form with another goal this weekend.

Preston will be wanting to return winning ways when they host Cardiff at Deepdale. The loss against Nottingham Forest in their last game put an end to a good run for North End, after beating Luton and pulling off an upset by getting the three points away to table-topping Bournemouth earlier in November.

Cardiff, however, are sitting precariously close to the bottom three after a poor season. They managed to pick up three points in their last game, a 2-1 victory over Huddersfield, but it was their only win in 11 games and it leaves the Bluebirds three points above 22nd placed Hull, meaning a bad result could see them drop into the relegation zone depending on other results.

Nottingham Forest will be looking to add more misery on Reading this week, as they travel to the Madejski Stadium. Despite picking up a win away to Birmingham last time out, Reading have slipped down the table following four defeats in their last five league games.

Even more despair has been placed on Veljko Paunović’s side with the recent nine-point deduction following financial issues and it’s dropped the Royals to 19th place, now just four points off the relegation zone. As for Forest, they have been going strong under Steve Cooper as the defeat to Fulham a month ago was their only defeat in 10 games. Forest cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston last time out, leaving them in 13th - four points off the play-offs.

We can see them getting the win in another high-scoring game, just like the victory against Preston.

Depending on other results across the Championship, Blackburn could climb into the play-off spots with a win away to Bristol City this weekend. It’s now two defeats on the bounce for the hosts, having lost back-to-back away games at the hands of Birmingham and Coventry in their last two league fixtures.

It means Nigel Pearson’s men have lost five of their last six games, as they slump to 18th place in the table and there’s still a seven-point gap to the bottom three, but the Robins won’t want to take that for granted. Blackburn are one of a cluster of teams lingering around the top six in a tight Championship table, with just five points separating fourth-placed Coventry and tenth-placed Blackpool.

Tony Mowbray’s side are in a decent run of form, picking up three wins form their last five matches, but Ben Brereton Diaz has been a sensation for Blackburn, as well as starring for Chile in their World Cup qualifiers this season. The striker has 13 goals in 17 appearances for Blackburn this campaign.