Saturday Championship 3pm Kick-Offs: Villa to win clash of the day

Derby 2.40 v Aston Villa 3.50; The Draw 3.30

The clash of the day in the Championship sees fourth-placed Derby host Aston Villa, who sit just one point and one place below them in the table.

Everything points to a closely-fought game, and you can make a case for any of the three outcomes in the Match Odds market, so based on the current prices then we have to stick with the recent trend of away teams enjoying plenty of success in this division.

It was indeed Derby who did us a favour last weekend when they landed the best bet selection away from home, but like a lot of Championship teams at present the Rams have actually been performing better on their travels of late.

Gary Rowett's men have taken 13 points from the last 15 available on the road, and that sequence of games invcluded excellent victories at the likes of Norwich, Leeds, and Middlesbrough. But at Pride Park Derby haven't been too hot. They needed a late goal to beat relegation-threatened Burton in their last home game, and prior to that they'd lost two of their previous three - against Reading and Ipswich - in front of their own fans.

Villa themselves are in decent form, losing just one of their last nine, and away from home Steve Bruce's men are currently unbeaten in four.

As I stared out by saying, this has all the hallmarks of being a very close game, and so it should be. But there's enough cracks in Derby's recent home form to recommended a wager on pre-season title favourites Villa at the generous odds of 3.50.

Recommended Bet
Back Aston Villa to Win @ 3.50 (best bet)

Brentford 1.64 v Barnsley 5.40; The Draw 4.60

I had a bit of egg on my face after suggesting that Brentford could be a dark horse this season, then seeing them go eight Championship games without a win to start their campaign.

Obviously they are no longer dark horses in the title race being fully 24 points behind Wolves currently, but I certainly wouldn't rule the Bees out of reaching the play-offs - they're currently 10 points off the pace - given their recent improved form and potential to do even better.

Prior to last week's defeat at Hull Dean Smith's men have lost just one of their previous 12 - that coming at highflying Cardiff - and at Griffin Park they are currently on a run of nine league games unbeaten, and have scored an impressive 10 goals in their last four home games.

You have to fancy that Brentford will get amongst the goals again on Saturday afternoon when struggling Barnsley travel south to London.

The Yorkshire outfit are in horrible form at present, dropping down the table at a rate of knots after losing five consecutive games and conceding exactly three goals in each of their last three games. Paul Heckingbottom's men suffered a 3-1 defeat at lowly Bolton in the spell, and therefore I have to wager that the Bees can beat them by at least two clear goals also.

Recommended Bet
Back Brentford -1 to Win @ 2.70

Preston 2.42 v Sheff United 3.30; The Draw 3.40

I'm perhaps going slightly against what I believe in when putting up Sheffield United to win at Preston on Saturday afternoon, but I just feel that the layers have over-reacted to the Blades' poor recent form and have taken a big chance by offering them at 3.30 to take all three points.

And it's not as if Chris Wilder's men are in dreadful form; their current winless run stretches to just four games but prior to that they'd won seven of their previous nine and were trading places with Wolves and Cardiff at the top of the Championship table.

My theory here is that you don't become a bad team over the space of a few weeks, and if you were good enough to top the table after a third of the season then any dip in form can be both expected, and simply just a blip.

What United have been doing consistently well - even during their recent poor run of results - is score goals, and that is always encouraging. Wilder's men have scored 14 goals in their last six matches for example; it's when you're not scoring and losing that you really need to worry.

Preston will be no pushovers as they are in decent form themselves following their own stretch of poor results. Alex Neil's men lost four on the spin recently, but they've turned that form around by going five unbeaten, though recent victories over lowly QPR and Burton, both by a single-goal margin, shouldn't overly worry the Blades.

Continuing our theme of backing away teams, taking a chance on Sheffield United returning to form looks one worth taking.

Recommended Bet
Back Sheff United to Win @ 3.30