Saturday Championship 3pm Kick-Offs: Brentford to continue good form

Reading 3.30 v Brentford 2.30; The Draw 3.50

Brentford are one of the form teams in the Championship, and after a dreadful start to the season they are now bang in the play-off picture.

In fact Dean Smith's men perhaps have more momentum than most of the clubs around them after winning four of their last five in the Championship. They started the season without a single win in their first eight games and were in and around the relegation zone for much of August and September.

But now the Bees are up to 11th, but more crucially just three points behind Sheffield United who occupy the final play-off position.

One of the keys to their revival is having a goalscorer constantly in form. While it was promising youngster Ollie Watkins scoring the goals earlier in the season, with his form dipping of late it's the likes of Lasse Vibe (six goals in his last seven appearances) and Florian Jozefzoon (two in last three) who have picked up the baton of late.

Brentford travel to Reading on Saturday who are in a worrying slump. The Royals managed to get the better of League Two Stevenage in their midweek FA Cup third round replay but prior to that they'd failed to win any of their previous eight games, dropping to 18th in the table just four points above the drop zone.

Worryingly Jaap Stam's men have lost back-to-back home league games, and with those defeats coming against Burton (22nd in the table) and Birmingham (23rd) then in-form Brentford should be more than capable of taking all three points.

Recommended Bet
Back Brentford @ 2.30 to beat Reading (best bet)

Aston Villa 1.58 v Barnsley 6.40; The Draw 4.20

The Match Odds suggest that Villa ought to win comfortably but that might not exactly be the case and I can see this being an entertaining affair.

Over 2.5 Goals is available to back at Evens on the Sportsbook so we should get matched at 2.10 or even higher on the Exchange nearer kick-off and I believe that bet is worth chancing.

If Villa do turn up in top form then as their short price suggests, they are likely to win comfortably and they themselves are more than capable of scoring at least three times. They were at their very best in their last league home game when they thrashed promotion-chasing Bristol City 5-0, which just shows how good Steve Bruce's men can be on their day.

But when matters on the pitch don't go as expected then Villa usually concede once or twice. Although they made changes for the visit of Peterborough last time they were far from at their best and lost the game 1-3, while before that they drew at home to Sheffield United 2-2.

That means that Villa's last three home games have witnessed a total of 13 goals, and that makes backing Over 2.5 Goals at above even money a value wager in itself.

But when you consider that Barnsley conceded four at Millwall in their last away game, and that in three consecutive games last month the conceded three at Reading, three at Bolton, and three at home to Derby, then you don't need me to tell you that Paul Heckingbottom's side don't exactly have a rock solid defence.

Recommended Bet
Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.10 in Aston Villa v Barnsley

Leeds 2.26 v Millwall 3.50; The Draw 3.40

There's no love lost between these two teams, and with both needing a win for very different reasons then this might turn into a very feisty affair.

Leeds have failed to win any of their last three league games meaning they've fallen out of the play-off positions. They are still very much in the picture being level on points with Sheffield United in sixth, but psychologically you'd prefer to be in the top six rather than just outside of it.

Thomas Christiansen's men are a difficult team to predict; they started the season with an unbeaten run of nine games in all competitions but they then lost eight of their next 11 matches. Five wins in six games then followed to move them back up the table but they've been frustrated of late, losing to Birmingham and Ipswich and only managing a home draw with Nottm Forest.

Leeds picked up six yellow cards and one red in those three winless games, and the visit of Millwall could end up being another game where the cards are dished out.

The Lions themselves are very in and out; their last nine league games have produced three wins, three draws, and three defeats, and although they've been mid-table for most of the season they can ill-afford to go on a bad run being just seven points above the relegation zone.

When these two sides met last season a total of five yellow cards were shown; a repeat of that would land the Over 45 Points bet in the Bookings market, but in a game that should be fiercely contested in a red hot atmosphere I actually like the price of 7/2 about a penalty being awarded (to any team) during the course of the 90+ minutes.

Recommended Bet
Back a Penalty to be awarded @ 7/2 in Leeds v Millwall