Birmingham look like one of the strongest match odds bets of the weekend.

Bristol City have spent a tonne of cash on getting the best two strikers from League One last season, it feels too simplistic.

They were well beaten at home to Millwall, 2-0, last weekend, with Adam Randell sent off for two yellows after 36 minutes.

Birmingham were really impressive in their 0-0 draw at Sheffield United, it was a poor game, but to limit the Blades to so little on their own patch was eye-catching.

Sheff Utd had just three shots, to Birmingham's 10, in the whole game. We'll find out in the coming weeks if that was an outstanding defensive display or if the Blades are a weak attacking side.

For now, I'm happy to bet that it was the former and that Blues can build on their promising first season back in the Championship last term, when they finished two spots ahead of Bristol City (10th and 12th).

Everton have won five of their last six home games against Palace.

There’s been a big turnover in the playing squad and in the dugout at Palace over the summer, while continuity at Everton has them in a more reliable position to hit the ground running on the opening weekend.

Christian Norgaard and Hayden Hackney have freshened up their midfield options, while the Brennan Johnson and Dwight McNeil swap deal adds some spice to the occasion.

It’s unlikely that Pierre Sage has the same success that Oliver Glasner had with Palace, and after losing Marc Guehi in January, they’ve lost Maxence Lacroix this summer, so their backline can’t be trusted to the same extent.

Everton are unbeaten in 11 against Palace, and will be targeting European football themselves this term.

We know what we’re going to get with David Moyes’ Everton, the same cannot be said about Sage’s Palace.

The 98th-minute limbs masked an underwhelming return to the Championship from Cardiff on Monday night.

They trailed Wrexham from the 3rd minute to the 98th, and could only muster nine shots in total.

Cardiff were second-best, keeper, Nathan Trott, made seven saves to keep them in the game.

Derby were edged out 2-1 at Charlton on the opening day, but have plenty of Championship pedigree, and proven firepower at the top of the pitch in Carlton Morris and Sammie Szmodics, that could make light work of Cardiff’s unproven defensive unit.

Cardiff finished 12 points behind Lincoln in League One last season, while Derby missed out on the play-offs by just four points, that gap in quality could be clear to see at Pride Park.

Rovers looked good in spells in their opening weekend 3-2 defeat at York City.

Newport won 3-0 at home to Rochdale, but that doesn’t yet change the expectation that Bristol Rovers will be battling for promotion and Newport will be battling for survival this season.

The Gas won both meetings between the sides last season, with the most recent being a comfortable 3-0 home win in January.

Newport could only muster 0.41 xG that day and had only three shots from inside the box.

There’s a clear gap in quality between these sides which’ll become evident in the league table in the coming months.

Ross County have made an excellent start to the season, and I think they can maintain that momentum when they travel to Airdrie on Saturday.

Stuart Kettlewell's side have quickly put any concerns over a relegation hangover to bed, topping a Scottish League Cup group that included top-flight outfit Dundee.

They carried that form into the league, winning each of their opening two fixtures before producing another impressive result last weekend by beating Dunfermline 2-1 away from home to book their place in the League Cup quarter-finals.

Airdrie, meanwhile, are still searching for their first league victory after drawing their opening two matches before being hammered 4-0 by Hamilton last weekend. 

That setback will hardly fill the Diamonds with confidence ahead of the visit of a Ross County side that are playing with plenty of confidence at the moment.