Championship Week 1 Treble Bet

The Premier League season may be over a week away, but for fans of EFL clubs, the wait is almost over, with the news season kicking off this Friday evening. There’s no shortage of live televised action to get stuck into the Championship, as the race for a place in the Premier League begins once more, with that Friday night curtain raiser followed by a triple-header of action on Sunday afternoon. Here we pick out our top three bets from amongst the TV fixtures in an effort to get the new season off to a flyer.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Southampton: Friday 4th August 4pm

First up it’s this clash from Hillsborough, as newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday plays host to relegated Southampton. Following those remarkable playoff heroics, the Owls should be heading into the season riding the crest of a wave. However, it hasn’t really turned out that way, with manager Darren Moore departing over the summer and little positive action in the transfer window. There’s a change in the hot seat at Southampton too, with ex-Swansea boss Rusell Martin taking the reins and looking to bring his possession-heavy approach to the South Coast club. Southampton have managed to hang on to key midfield assets James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia so far, but the fact that both are continually linked with a move away can’t be helping Martin create a settled camp.

An away trip to a newly promoted side is never an easy opening fixture, but Southampton boasts the clear quality edge and have been performing better than their hosts in pre-season. Whilst it’s important not to read too much into friendly results, the fact that the Owls have won only one of six, scoring more than once only once, and keeping just one clean sheet, can’t be taken as a positive. Southampton have won only two of five, but the quality of the opposition has been higher, with the Saints showing definite signs of promise in narrow losses to Bournemouth and Portuguese giants Benfica. We still don’t trust the visitor's backline, so an away win with both teams to score may be the way to go.

• Best Bet - Southampton to win and Both Teams to Score at 4/1 with bet365

Leicester City vs Coventry City: Sunday 6th August 12pm

Sunday's action gets underway with a clash between another relegated side and a team who came so close to gaining promotion last term. Beaten in a penalty shootout by Luton Town in last season's Playoff Final, Coventry have been given the toughest of openers for the new campaign as they head to the King Power to take on this year's favourites to top the table. Both sides will have high hopes of gaining promotion this term and will be looking for a positive result from this one to set the tone for the season.

Leicester may be favourites but are a team in flux at present. New boss Enzo Maresca ranks amongst the most untested in the division, whilst the outgoing James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, and Harvey Barnes won't be easy to replace. Pre-season has gone as most would have expected, with wins over Northampton Town and Ou-Heverlee Leuven and a battering at the hands of Liverpool. If Coventry are to repeat last season's performance, they must do so without hitman Viktor Gyökeres who has departed for Sporting Lisbon. However, the acquisition of Ellis Simms from Everton brings plenty of potential upside, and signs have been positive in pre-season, with Coventry hitting 12 goals in four games. Predicting which way this will go is tough, but given the attacking tendencies of both outfits, we expect goals to be on the menu.

• Best Bet - Over 3.5 goals at 2/1 with bet365

Leeds United vs Cardiff City: Sunday 6th August 2:30pm

Cardiff City will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last season, which saw the club finish only one spot above the relegation zone, but this looks like a mightily tough opening assignment. The homecoming of Aaron Ramsey has headlined the transfer activity, but the signing of Karlan Grant could prove just as significant. Whilst disappointing last term, Grant has hit 18 or more goals in two of his past three seasons in the Championship and may provide the firepower to keep the Bluebirds out of trouble. That said, Cardiff have failed to score in either of their two pre-season fixtures and look up against it here.

Leeds have been much better in their warm-up games. Defeats to Monaco and Manchester United were to be expected, but the Yorkshire club bounced back with wins over Premier League side Nottingham Forest and Hearts of the SPL. New boss Daniel Farke’s attacking brand of football looks a good fit for the club, and, with the likes of Jack Harrison, Patrick Bamford, Willy Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, and Joe Gelhardt all remaining in situ, he possesses the ammunition to create an effective goal-getting side. Buoyed on by a raucous home crowd, we expect Leeds to blow Cardiff away in this one.

• Best Bet - Handicap Betting Leeds United -2 at 13/5 with bet365

A £10 treble on the above three selections returns £540 with bet365.