Frank Lampard has had a positive start to his reign at Coventry. They have won the xG battle pretty comfortably in all of their last 4 matches, but Lampard hasn’t yet been able to eliminate Coventry’s capacity to shoot themselves in the foot from a defensive perspective yet.

The Sky Blues have conceded 5 goals in their last 4 matches, and they have only kept 2 clean sheets away from home all season in the Championship.

Though Pompey didn’t score in their last home match against Norwich, they did fire off 15 shots, and generate 0.83 xG in the process, which is more likely to result in a goal than not. This also came off the back of scoring 3 times in consecutive matches at home as well.

Coventry certainly bring a lot of scoring potential to the party as well. The absence of Haji Wright seems to have unlocked the potential of Ephron Mason-Clark, who has found his scoring boots, and head, since being given an opportunity from the left side of the attack, his preferred position if his work at Peterborough is anything to go by.

Coventry are actually in the top 7 in the Championship for xG generated over the season (xGF), and they are underperforming their xG by a fairly substantial margin, so there should be more goals to come from them.

An entertaining game surely awaits when these play-off contenders meet on Saturday at LNER Stadium. Lincoln enter this contest 7 without victory in League One fixtures, whereas Reading are winless in 3 in all competitions since Rubén Sellés left for the Hull job. That being said, this is a top-six battle in the league in relation to number of games featuring over 2.5 goals, so goals should be on the agenda.

Given how Lincoln are struggling to claim 3 points at present, this demonstrates a degree of vulnerability around Michael Skubala’s team. They’ve not been as reliable defensively compared to last season as they’ve kept just 5 out of a possible 20 league clean sheets so far. They are likely to be tested once more given Reading have failed to score in only 3 of their 19 league encounters so far. Also, just the once on the road in league action have they not scored, too.

The Royals should also look to produce a bit of a reaction here after losing 3-0 at home to Blackpool last weekend. Although deserving losers, the xG on the day indicates they should’ve at least found the back of the net. Perhaps the shock of Sellés’ departure was still effecting the team to a degree. They’ll have no choice but to improve facing a good Lincoln outfit, but one which will afford chances to the opposition.

Supporting Leeds here was an obvious spot for the Championship best bets, it is just a case of trying to find the way to do that which represents the best value.

In the end the reasons to settle on the handicap were fairly obvious. Leeds are brushing teams aside at Elland Road. Leeds have won 9 matches out of 11 at home, and 8 of those 9 have been by at least 2 goals.

The last example of this was at home to Middlesbrough, and this task versus Oxford couldn’t contrast more with that. Oxford are now managerless, though talks with Gary Rowett appear to be in advanced stages, and that is because their Championship has dropped off a cliff from their impressive start.

Oxford are still yet to win a Championship match away from home, and, in fairness, this is the most difficult challenge in the Championship at the moment. The Yellows have lost their last 2 matches by 2 goals, and have lost 3 of their last 4 away matches by at least 2 goals as well.

It seems likely that Oxford will sit deep at Elland Road and attempt to contain Leeds. However, as we have seen this season, Leeds have been a bit more reliable at getting the job done at home as they were last year, and if Leeds do get an early goal, and Oxford have to abandon the plan, then that will open the door for Leeds to have more space going forwards, and beating the handicap.

Millwall are in a bit of an identity crisis at the moment, with the lack of a manager not helping their cause. It has become quite clear that the owners and the coaching staff have slightly different perspectives on how the team should be approaching matches, and, despite impressive statistical performance data, the methods employed by Neil Harris, which saved Millwall from relegation last season, and have them in the top half this season, apparently don’t chime with the owners’ ideas.

Into this situation come Blackburn Rovers, who seem to have invented a forcefield to fit into their goal. Rovers haven’t conceded a goal in 5 Championship matches now, and have won 6 in a row. This is the best run for the club in Championship history, and the confidence that John Eustace and his men have, especially in their defending, is bound to be tremendous.

The consistency of selection with Dom Hyam, Danny Batth, Sondre Tronstad, Lewis Travis, and goalkeeper Aynsley Pears, all playing brilliantly in that central route to goal is obviously really helping the team.

Millwall are still very much dealing int binary football scores at the moment. Remarkably it has now been 13 matches since a team scored twice in any Millwall match. If the trend continues then 3 of the possible 4 results play for us in the double chance bet, but, regardless Blackburn look a fairly big price given the contrast in form and the atmosphere around the two teams.

The Lions have lost their last three games 1-0, and though they didn’t play badly last week at Middlesbrough, and could’ve attained a draw with Romain Esse’s particularly bad miss, Blackburn were supremely controlled and confident against Luton, and the away fans will be right behind their team here.

There aren’t many teams who will go out and attack Middlesbrough, even at home, because of the threat that Boro pose on the break, but Plymouth may well be one club who could do it here.

The Pilgrims are well known to be a team who perform much better at home than away, but it is their away performance at Sheffield United last weekend that gives the idea that they might’ve decided to change tack and start attacking their opponents more fluently.

The extra confidence that they will have at home should encourage this tactic, but it is one that they should be wary of because Middlesbrough have shown over the last few years that when they play with space in front of them then they can be devastating.

Plymouth did lose at home last time out against Swansea, conceding around 2 xG in the process. Plymouth now have the very much unwanted record of conceding the most goals in the league, conceding the most xGA in the league, and creating the least xG as well. None of which are statistics that bode very well against Boro.

Michael Carrick’s side are only 5th for xGA, but are second, just behind Leeds for xGF. They have scored in 7 away matches in a row, and, given the aforementioned Plymouth propensity to concede chances, Boro should be racking up over 2 xG in the match, making them strong favourites for the win.

The goal line is low enough for this fixture for us to be able to back the over 1.5 goal line. Interestingly, both QPR and Preston have scored exactly 21 goals in 21 Championship matches., and, obviously, if this trend was to continue then the bet will land.

This is a goal line that has been surpassed in each of QPR’s last 3 matches, and it is a fun of form that has seen Marti Cifuentes’ side move out of the bottom 3, and a win in this fixture will take them above Preston, an added motivational factor. Indeed, 6 of QPR’s last 7 matches have gone over 1.5 goals, with QPR themselves scoring in 6 of the last 8.

Preston’s last 4 matches have all also gone over 1.5 goals, although all of them has exactly 2 goals, so that stat is hanging on by a thread a little bit. Paul Heckingbottom is winning points at a rate that will keep them in the Championship, and they are regularly scoring goals, though Heckingbottom would definitely like to continue to get more from their forward players.

QPR have certainly shown that this is possible. Ilias Chair and Michael Frey returned to the bench last weekend to bolster their forward options, but Rayan Kolli has had a good recent impact, whilst Cifuentes took to the media to praise Paul Smyth for his work in the team after criticism towards the Northern Irish international from certain sections of support.

The vast majority of matches at Loftus Road have ended both teams to score, it has happened 11 times in all competitions this season. If that was to happen again, then this bet will land, but over 1.5 goals is much safer in case of a 2-0 or better victory, like QPR enjoyed against Norwich and Oxford recently.

Although a quick glance at the league table would suggest quite a routine home victory is to be expected here, that is not necessarily the case. Barnsley may have earned a solid 2-1 win over Exeter last time out but they were winless in 6 in all competitions prior to this.

Leyton Orient have suffered only the 1 loss over their previous 10 in all competitions. The 0-0 home draw with lowly Burton Albion last time out would have disappointed them, but they’d have been worthy winners based upon xG.

Orient have also proved that they can have an impact on the opposing goal when faced against the stronger clubs at this level, of which Barnsley are certainly a part of. It is encouraging to see that Saturday’s away side have already completed an away day double over Stockport and Reading, who are both currently in the play-off places. They’ve also netted versus the likes of Birmingham, Bolton, Lincoln and Blackpool; who are others inside the top-half of League One.

A concern for Barnsley heading into this clash is their home record. It is ranked 19th in the league given they’ve won only 2 times at Oakwell in league action. Only once have Darrell Clarke’s side earned a clean sheet in home league battles this season. Over that time, they’ve conceded an average of 1.50 goals, whilst shipping 2 or more in 60% of them.

Walsall made it 10 league games unbeaten when with their regulation 1-0 versus Barrow last weekend, it was their 3rd 1-0 win in their last 5 league matches.

Walsall are top of the 5 game form table and have put daylight between themselves, at the top of the table, and the other promotion challengers. There’s now a 4 point gap back to Port Vale in 2nd and a 7 point gap to AFC Wimbledon in 4th. Teams who have 40+ points at this stage of the season have routinely achieved promotion in recent seasons.

Walsall have only conceded 5 goals in 9 away league games this season and have kept a clean sheet in their last 3.

Whilst Walsall have been on the march towards promotion, Harrogate have been struggling. They’ve lost their last 3 matches, 2-0 to Salford, 3-0 to AFC Wimbledon and 2-1 to Tranmere.

Harrogate have a 7 point buffer between themselves and Morecambe in the relegation zone. But they are 22nd in the expected points table and feel like a legitimate target for the bottom echelon of clubs to aim for.

Harrogate have pulled off shock home wins this season, Doncaster and Chesterfield in the league as well as Wrexham in the FA Cup. But Walsall have a ruthless edge to them currently and can continue their trajectory towards League One.

Morecambe have struggled from day 1 of the season. The Shrimps are 23rd in the table, tied on points with bottom side Carlisle who have played a game less.

Morecambe haven’t won a home game in the league all season and are the tied lowest goalscoring home team in the division with 8 goals. They have 4 points from their last possible 15 and are 22nd in the 5 game form table.

Morecambe continue to face adversity off the pitch with ownership struggles meaning January transfer additions are unlikely unless there’s a change quickly. They are prime relegation candidates.

Bromley have adapted well to League Two football following last season’s promotion from the National League. They are firmly in mid-table with a record of W5-D9-W5 and a net zero goal difference.

Bromley are adept at picking points up on the road, winning 3 and drawing 4 of their 9 away matches this season. They are 8 League Two games unbeaten, 7th in the 5 game form table and 12th in the division for expected points with Striker Michael Cheek is tied 2nd in the top scorer charts.

Bromley are a tough nut to crack and can keep their unbeaten run going on the North-West coast.