Championship top-six odds & predictions: Tricky Trees are on the rise

Free football tips, best bets and analysis in the Championship top-six betting.

Best bets

Nottingham Forest top-six finish
3pts 7-2 general

Middlesbrough top-six finish
1pt 10-3bet365

Championship top-six finish predictions

The battle for Championship playoff places is shaping up to be hugely competitive but the ability to put together a run of results will be crucial and Nottingham Forest could be one of the teams consistent enough to nail down a top six finish.

Forest started the season dreadfully – taking one point from their first seven games – and had looked destined for a relegation scrap after showing manager Chris Hughton the door in mid-September.

However, they made an ambitious appointment, bringing in ex-Swansea gaffer Steve Cooper, and have not looked back.

Forest have taken 30 points from 15 games under Cooper, which is a better return than any of their Championship rivals over the same period.

They look solid at the back with Joe Worrall emerging as one of the most talented central defenders outside the Premier League, and the front three of Brennan Johnson, Lewis Grabban and Philip Zinckernagel are causing all sorts of problems for defences.

It is hard to see Forest falling away, and given the slender one-point gap between themselves and the top six, they look a great bet to make the playoffs.

Another strong top-six contender could be Middlesbrough, who have looked a different animal since handing the reins to Chris Wilder.

The arrival of Wilder has led to a tactical adjustment from a back four to a three but the main difference has been an increase in intensity.

Boro seemed to be first to almost every ball in the second half of Saturday's 1-0 success at home to Bournemouth and if they keep playing in a similar vein they will have every chance of an extended season.

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