Kolo Touré’s search for a first win as Wigan Athletic manager reaches attempt number four. Boxing Day’s heavy 4-1 defeat at a rejuvenated Middlesbrough will not come as a surprise to many. The Latics languish in the Championship bottom three whilst Boro continue their assault on the top places under Michael Carrick. Even with Touré’s reign at Wigan still in its infancy, Athletic have managed to score in every game since the return from the World Cup break. Nathan Broadhead, Will Keane and Thelo Aasgaard have provided those goals, all forming part of the frontline in a 4-2-3-1, with Callum Lang another capable forward from wide positions.

Opponents Sunderland continue to go from strength to strength under Tony Mowbray. Promoted alongside Wigan from League One last season, the frustrations for the Black Cats have been individual matches as opposed to the season as a whole. A major boost for the Wearsiders however has been the return to fitness of key striker Ross Stewart. The 26-year-old Scot is one of the leading forwards at second tier level, and has scored in each of this two matches since becoming available again. Stewart’s return, alongside the continually improving form and performances of Everton loanee Ellis Simms, leave Sunderland in a strong position and with good reason to be optimistic about the second half of 2022-23. Only Burnley and Middlesbrough have scored more goals on the road than Sunderland this season.

Having claimed scalps over both Millwall and Blackburn Rovers earlier this month, Sunderland can carry confidence about wrapping up 2022 with another positive result. The Black Cats have their senior strikers fit and firing once again, and if they can keep their Greater Manchester opponents quiet on Thursday, it will be another statement of intentions in the second half of this campaign. Tony Mowbray’s side do average more than one goal conceded each away game, however.

A few of Blackburn’s ridiculous statistics fell at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day. Blackburn scored first against Sunderland, albeit through an own goal, but, unlike all other matches in the Championship this season, Rovers went on to concede an equaliser and then even lose the match to a last minute Ellis Simms winner.

That late goal would have felt like a massive blow for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side as there wasn’t much in the match between the two sides. However, Rovers have arguably been on the right side of variance in plenty of similar scenarios so far this season. With the league being so tight it is genuinely concerning for Rovers fans at the moment that despite being third for a sizeable amount of time now, there is only 7 points between Rovers and 15th-placed Swansea, and arguably, Rovers’ performances would be more expected to produce results more befitting of a lower midtable side than a promotion challenger.

Indeed, Middlesbrough, despite a very poor start to the season results-wise, definitely come into this fixture as the form side. A convincing 4-1 win at home to Wigan the latest example of the change that Michael Carrick appears to have brought to the Teessiders. In all honesty, the Boro have been performing at a decent level for most of the season, but the confidence is flowing now and the players are being able to express themselves in roles that suit them.

The obvious supply line for Blackburn to shut down in this match is Ryan Giles. The Wolves loanee supplied all three of Chuba Akpom’s goals on Boxing Day and, unfortunately for Rovers, the left back will be attacking an area that is relatively weak for Rovers. Joe Rankin-Costello has performed admirably in the last two fixtures at right-back but against Sunderland he was exposed on a number of occasions as a result of Ryan Hedges tucking infield. Rovers can ill-afford to offer that space for the assist king. They should know all about him having had Giles on loan themselves last season.

One can be fairly confident that Middlesbrough will produce the higher xG in this clash, they have done so consistently in all of their matches, even away from home. Indeed, their away xG difference is streets above anything produced by anyone else in the Championship, they are the only team in the positive in fact, +7.2xGD compared to the next best of West Brom at -0.7. They look good value for the win at Ewood Park.

Though Coventry lost at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day there has been a lot of rave reviews about their performance against one of the best teams in the league. Indeed, there is a strong sense of momentum about the Sky Blues, who are now recovering from a difficult start on and off the pitch.

Coventry have conceded six goals in their last two games, but here they face a pretty toothless attack in Cardiff. The Bluebirds drew a blank again at home to QPR despite being generally impressive from box-to-box. There is no cutting edge to the Cardiff forward line with Callum Robinson as much a provider as a goalscorer and though Kion Etete has come in and shown potential, he is a long way from the finished product as a Championship goalscorer.

Even if Cardiff do get a goal here Coventry themselves have become more of a goal threat as the season has progressed. They arguably boast the most complete forward in the league in Viktor Gyokeres who added to his goal tally at Bramall Lane. In addition, Callum O’Hare has been able to get some recent minutes and get back up to speed. O’Hare is exceptionally important to the Coventry attack for his ball-carrying and potential to pick a pass out.

Also, because Coventry are odds against to win the match there is the possibility to cover the draw by playing this edge as a draw no bet. Cardiff are decent defensively and will be well organised against the threats that Mark Robins’ side will pose, so it is prudent to cover against the possibility of a 0-0 or 1-1 scoreline.

The Lions are surely ready to hammer the nails into the coffin of Nigel Pearson’s tenure as Bristol City manager. The Robins faithful appeared to completely lose faith in the reign of the former Leicester boss after another home defeat on Boxing Day.

It has been the case for a long time now that Bristol City cannot be relied upon to defend correctly for any length of time. Whilst there are some talented individuals in the squad, most of the talent is attacking players. There has been a problem in the balance of the side, something remarked upon in this column on multiple occasions over the last few months, and has led to good profit in backing them to concede, and score, goals. Here, at the home of Millwall, who have conceded a lower xG against than anyone other than Swansea and Reading this season, it is difficult to see the Bristol City attack being able to fire as effectively here.

Millwall, on the other hand, are finding their summer recruitment paying dividends. Zian Flemming is now into double figures before Christmas, though he is running hot against his personal xG at this stage. Andreas Voglsammer, though, had been suffering the opposite problem until Boxing Day when the German finally broke his Millwall duck with a much deserved goal. Tyler Burey also looked lively in the impressive away win and this adds to the threat of Tom Bradshaw and, when fit, Benik Afobe.

I would make Millwall stronger favourites for this match at this time. As mentioned in passing earlier, Millwall have recovered from a fairly open start to the season to return to being very compact and difficult to break through. In 11 home matches they have conceded only 8 goals, which is fairly consistent with their 9xG against. They have the 4th best home record in the league in terms of results, winning over 60% of the matches. This is against a poorer side than most and so the 10/11 current price looks a decent one.

Sheffield United are beginning to look very strong for a Premier League return. Though, as mentioned above, their performance against Coventry was only average, they still had the individual quality to produce the moments to win comfortably.

There are so many ways in which this Blades side can hurt a team. The Senegalese World Cup star Iliman Ndiaye has become bigger and stronger over the last year or so and is now a terrifying prospect with ball at feet. Oli McBurnie is still a slight injury doubt for this game but he provides a technical target man presence, but his likely replacement in the side, Billy Sharp, is a marksman of supreme quality. James McAtee is improving all the time and Sander Berge has the ability to bully opposition midfields. When you add Oli Norwood’s supreme set-piece delivery and the threat of the three central defenders in the air it is clear that we are talking about a dangerous side.

Away from home the Blades don’t tend to be anywhere near as expansive though. They have scored only 15 goals in 12, but conceded only 9 times on their travels. Indeed, their expected goal difference is in the negative on away trips, but they face a Blackpool side who have a negative home goal difference and expected goal difference. There is some fight in the Tangerines, as evidenced by picking up valuable draws in recent weeks, but performances have been quite poor.

The Seasiders have been decimated in midfield, leaving a skeleton crew of youngsters Charlie Patino and Sonny Carey to perform those important roles. Goals have dried up in the forward ranks with only three goals in their last seven matches. Not an ideal run of form when your next match is against the tough defence of Sheffield United.