Championship Preview w/c 12th march

Another week and more surprise results in the championship promotion race.
With Preston,West Brom & Southampton all slipping up we are now reaching the crucial point of the season with 9 or 10 games left to play,if any of the 3rd to 8Th placed teams want to finish in the top two places they can not afford any more slip ups.

On to this weeks matches then:

Coventry v Wolves 2-1

With Wolves buoyant from there local derby win over the baggies they go into this game in great form after winning the previous 6 games.Coventry have picked up of late as well since the appointment of Dowie as manager and this will be a difficult game for Wolves especially as they have only a days rest after there high intensity performance.

Derby V QPR 3-0

This will probably be one of the easiest games of the season for Derby with QPR in turmoil after a poor run of results.Derby will have to much quality for a poor QPR team who could find themselves in the bottom 3 after this game.

Norwich V Birmingham 0-1

A difficult game for the league leaders but the Blues have shown that they can play badly and still win.The Blues are not the most entertaining team to watch but they know how to grind out results.Norwich need a couple of wins to confirm there safety but i expect them to lose tonight.

Preston V Ipswich 2-0

Preston need to win this match to keep there automatic promotion hopes alive,anything but a win will see them fall to far away from the top two and will also see them struggling to make a play off spot.Ipswich are a real Jekyll and Hyde side who hit 5 away at Hull but then lose at home to Southend.Preston need for the points will give them the edge in this game though.

Southampton v Cardiff 2-1

The big game of the night where the Saints desperately need the points to claw back the gap that is starting to open up from the top 7.The Saints start 3 points behind Cardiff and a defeat is unthinkable.Cardiff have struggled away from home recently and i expect them to struggle again tonight.

Sunderland v Stoke 1-0

Sunderland are on a roll and pulling in Derby in the race for 2nd place.I fully expect Sunderland to win this game and deal a fatal blow to Stokes play off hopes.It will not be pretty to watch but Sunderland will have the quality to just nick a winner.

West Brom V Palace 1-0

West Brom have got to win this match to have any chance of making the top 2 in fact they probably need to win 8 out of there last 9 games to have any chance at all.Fresh from the dissapointment of there defeat in the local derby i think they will (or i hope they will)just have enough to beat a palace team who have to win every game to make the play offs i don't think they will make the playoffs and this game may spell the end of there season.The baggies to nick it on a nervy night hopefully there better players may be able to find there form again.

Ok these are my predictions and if they are correct this is what the table will look like:

1 Brum 73pts
2 Derby 72pts
3 Sund 69pts
4 Albion 66pts
5 Preston 65pts
6 Wolves 65pts
7 Soton 62pts
8 Cardiff 62pts.