Four straight wins have seen preseason favourites Aston Villa return as contenders to win the English Football League Championship and punters are backing them to the hilt at BMR\’s best bookmakers\’ green list.
Premiership promotion is worth £170 million to Championship clubs, and they are fighting tooth and nail to make it to the big time. Aston Villa broke the bank to sign Chelsea legend John Terry on a free transfer this summer in a bid to surge back up to the top flight. They were made joint favourites to win the division, along with Middlesbrough, who had just been relegated. But Villa got off to a dreadful start and the odds on them winning the Championship plummeted to 20/1.
Defeats at the hands of Cardiff and Reading left their season plans in disarray, while back-to-back draws Bristol City and Brentford saw them languishing near the bottom of the table. Defeat against Middlesbrough would have been disastrous, but they held on for a 0-0 draw and since then they are on a real upward curve. Victories over Barnsley, Nottingham Forest, Burton and Bolton have propelled them up to a far more respectable seventh in the table, and they are now just five points behind leaders Cardiff.
However, the odds available on Steve Bruce’s men are still decent. You can get 9/1 with most bookmakers, such as Bet365 and Paddy Power, and 10/1 with Sky Bet and Sportingbet. That looks like an interesting set of odds as Villa are the form team in the division right now. Conor Hourihane is banging in the goals and they look a force to be reckoned with as Terry has helped tighten the defence.
It makes Villa the third favourites for the crown. Right now the shortest odds available are on Wolves, who have won seven of 11 to stand second in the table. They are Aston Villa’s local rivals, so it could turn into a fascinating battle between those sides. The best price available on Wolves is just 2/1 (at Bet365, Betfred, 888 Sport and various others), which does not look too attractive. They are playing some nice football and did well to dump a strong Southampton side out of the league cup, but they have shown their fallibility in losing to Cardiff and Sheff Utd.
League leaders Cardiff are 11/2 second favourites with 888 Sport and Unibet, but they are not seeing much action at all from punters as their challenge is expected to fizzle out. Given Villa’s form, and the way they have closed the gap to just five points in recent weeks, they look to be the best value pick right now.
Middlesbrough, who started the season as joint favourites with Villa, are in poor form and are 11th, but still they are only eight points off the top and things shift quickly in the Championship. For an even longer shot, Garry Monk’s team look interesting at 14/1 at Bet365. They kept the core of their Premiership side and supplemented it with proven quality at Championship level, so their stuttering start is a surprise.
If they can string a run of solid results together over the winter they will be right back in the mix, and they have the quality to do so. Another sleeping giant is Sheff Wed 25/1 with Bet Victor, who are level on points with Boro but better than their form suggests.
Next time out Middlesbrough are 11/12 to beat Barnsley away and Sheff Wed are 5/6 for their away trip to bottom club Bolton. That looks a great double, while the price on Sheff Wed is sensational. Bolton have taken just two points from 11 games and are 1/1000 to be relegated, so Sheff Wed should go there and beat them comfortably and 5/6 is really attractive.
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