EFL TIPS: We preview the best fixtures across the Championship, League One and League Two, as well as providing our best bets.
Championship
Sheffield United v Birmingham: Saturday, 15:00
For our first preview of the week, we head over to Bramall Lane, where Sheffield United are hunting their first consecutive league victories over Birmingham since 2001, following their 2-1 victory over the side in February. The Blades boast a brilliant home record heading into this fixture, having won all four of their home games thus far. Sheffield striker Oliver MacBurnie, has scored four goals from his last five games and will be a player to watch ahead of this weekend.
Unlike their top-spot opponents, Birmingham find themselves 17th in the table with more losses than wins so far this season. It will take some doing for the Blues to come away with a win here, so our value bet will be backing Sheffield United at 1.48.
-> Sheffield United v Birmingham markets
Blackpool v Norwich City: Saturday, 15:00
Norwich City are undefeated in their last seven league games and will be full of confidence heading into this weekend’s fixtures. This will be the first time the two sides have clashed since 2015, when the Canaries won 4-0. The side currently rank second in the table and will be looking to extend their goal scoring streak, having netted 16 so far this season.
Blackpool fans will be thirsty for a win at Bloomfield Road, after a very shaky start to the season has seen them win just three fixtures, of which they were at home for just one. Averaging just one goal per game, they look unlikely to overcome the Canaries who have had generated huge momentum so far this season, and at 1.94, backing Norwich City is our value bet for the match.
-> Blackpool v Norwich City markets
League One
Ipswich Town v Portsmouth: Saturday, 15:00
In what is arguably the most exciting game of the weekend, Ipswich Town will be welcoming Portsmouth to Portman Road Stadium. They will be looking to bounce back following their first loss of the season last weekend against Plymouth Argyle, who have nicked the top spot from the club, pushing Ipswich down into second.
Portsmouth will be no easy rivals though as they now hold the title of the only undefeated side in the league this season. They currently sit third in the table but have a game in hand. It will certainly be a tight match, and it will be interesting to see how the home advantage plays out for Ipswich.
Both sides sit with 19 goals scored and eight conceded, leaving it all to play for. It’s difficult to call how this match will play out, but our value bet will be backing Ipswich Town at 1.84.
-> Ipswich Town v Portsmouth markets
League Two
Crawley Town v Stevenage: Saturday, 15:00
The final game we preview this week sees Crawley Town welcome Stevenage to Broadfield Stadium. Crawley Town have not had a shining start to the season, only having won one match against Stockport. However, they have scored nine goals already, which is more than most other clubs sitting near the bottom of the table.
Stevenage on the other hand, have had a blinding start, currently ranked third in the table with seven wins from ten played. They haven’t been the most aggressive side, only scoring 12 goals so far, but do have three more than Crawley. Although the home advantage will boost Crawley, it seems unlikely they can get the better of the side who have only conceded three goals thus far. Therefore, our value bet is backing Stevenage at 1.88.
-> Crawley Town v Stevenage markets
