Championship Treble

There are three Championship games on Saturday that appear to be so one-sided that failing to back the favourites in a treble at odds of 5/1 with WilliamHill, would seem like a crime.

Long-time leaders QPR host Crystal Palace who lay claim to comfortably the worst away record in the Championship. The Hoops have amassed 41 points from games at Loftus Road this term while the Eagles have scraped a feeble 4 points from all the trips away from Selhurst Park. Furthermore, it’s only a year since Neil Warnock left a cash-strapped Palace and crossed the Thames for QPR’s millions. He took a couple of the better players with him and those that remained will hold no element of surprise. It really does look like the ultimate home banker.

The story is similar at Turf Moor where resurgent Burnley entertain a Millwall side that hasn’t won once on its travels since November. Lions’ fans will point to the midweek win over QPR at the Den as a turning point, but in this league home form rarely converts. This is why the recent results of Burnley, wherever they have played, have been so impressive. The Clarets are unbeaten in six in the league with five of those matches ending in victory. New boss Eddie Howe has the form team in the division and with two games in hand a push for automatic promotion, let alone the play-offs, looks likely.

Swansea City will be looking over their shoulders at Burnley, but after dropping points in both their last two games, there will be some relief to still be lying second. The 3-0 victory over promotion rivals Leeds is still recent enough to instill some confidence and a trip to beleagured Derby County should provide a further fillip. The Rams have just one win in their last 13 games in all competitions and Nigel Clough finds himself as the favourite to lose his job next at 6/4. At times like this, playing at home is rarely an advantage with so many disillusioned fans to appease, so I back Swansea to triumph as well.