CHAMPIONSHIP: The Striker previews Sunday’s Championship games between DERBY COUNTY v BIRMINGHAM CITY and CARDIFF v NOTTINGHAM FOREST both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

DERBY COUNTY V BIRMINGHAM CITY

1.30pm Once again the Championship is the focus on BETDAQ Betting Exchange on Sunday as the Premier League enjoys it’s winter break. We have two very interesting games to enjoy today and we start with Derby hosting Birmingham. Derby were a great topic of debate recently on Sky Sports, with Gary Neville speaking passionately on the subject of owners and how clubs are run. It will be sad to see Derby relegated this season, as they are almost certain to go down. They were in the news again this weekend, with manager Wayne Rooney telling the press Everton got in touch for the vacant managers job and he turned them down. You have to admire his loyalty to the club, especially considering that they are rumoured to be over £60 million in debt. Quite how they got to that situation is a question for another day, but it’s remarkable. It’s the type of situation where you worry will the club even exist – how do they come back from that amount of debt in League One?

Despite all the issues at Derby, they will view this game as a good chance to pick up a win. They have home advantage against a club who are down towards the bottom of the table with them. Birmingham aren’t in trouble when it comes to the relegation zone as they are 12 points away from the bottom three, but they are in the bottom six. Both sides have a pretty similar profile stats wise – Birmingham concede more chances away from home compared to Derby at home, and that could be what decides a very close game. Derby have been playing OK football lately, and the dressing room surely got a boost from Rooney turning down Everton midweek. This isn’t a game for big stakes at all, but it seems Derby have a lot going for them here. The problem is they look a little short at 2.4 – I would have liked to back them maybe ten ticks higher, and because of that I’m happy to back at draw 3.2. Derby are rightly favourites, but they are too short for me.

The Striker Says:
One point win Draw at 3.2 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQDerBir

CARDIFF V NOTTINGHAM FOREST

4pm Our second game today is Cardiff hosting Nottingham Forest. This is another big game, you could even call it massive for both sides when you look at the table for different reasons. Nottingham Forest sit in 8th after the games played on Saturday, and they will view this game as an excellent chance to get three points in the race for the Playoff places. While Cardiff start the game in 20th and while the bottom two are detached, they are only three points away from Peterborough. They won’t be too uncomfortable given they have games in hand on some of the teams around them, but if they don’t turn their form around soon they could easily find themselves sitting in the bottom three. The bottom five has already formed because Birmingham have such a gap, so one of Cardiff, Reading and Peterborough will be joining Derby and Barnsley going down. While Cardiff have home advantage and sometimes that’s so important when you’re in a relegation battle, they have actually been terrible at home this season.

Cardiff sit rock bottom at the home form table, and they are three points away from second bottom. Most of their points this season have come away from home as they are sitting comfortably in mid-table in that table. At home, they’ve only picked up seven points from twelve games. We have a pretty open market here, but Nottingham Forest look cracking value at 2.64. Since beating Arsenal in the FA Cup they have been playing full of confidence, and they have created xG figures of 3.77, 1.99 and 2.49. The 1-0 win over Millwall away from home might look routine, but that xG of 3.77 really stands out as a top quality performance. When you consider that Cardiff have conceded over 1.5 goals per game at home this season and only created half of that, I would have Forest shorter than 2.64. This seems an ideal time for this fixture for Forest, and they can bag another three points.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Nottingham Forest to beat Cardiff at 2.64 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQCarNot