Championship winner odds, outright and promotion predictions: Rovers in the hunt

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the Championship title race.

Best bet

Blackburn to be promoted
2pts 5-1 Betfred

Championship promotion predictions

The Championship promotion race has livened up in the last month as fancied clubs Fulham, Bournemouth and West Brom have gone through sticky spells and there is scope for fast-improving Blackburn to give the market-leaders a serious run for their money.

Blackburn were 15th last season and had some issues to address this summer with star striker Adam Armstrong entering the final year of his contract and goalscoring midfielder Bradley Dack continuing his road to recovery after a serious knee injury.

The tough decision was taken to sell Armstrong and Rovers manager Tony Mowbray had little scope to secure replacements due to a summer transfer embargo. Mowbray had to prioritise the development younger players alongside an astute use of the loan market and he excelled on both counts.

The most obvious success story has been 22-year-old striker Ben Brereton Diaz, who has netted 19 goals in 23 appearances.

The Chilean has scored more goals over the last five months than in his first three seasons as a Rovers' player and has ensured that the loss of Armstrong has barely been noticed.

Other youngsters who have impressed include academy graduates Tyrhys Dolan and John Buckley, while on-loan Brighton duo Paul van Hecke and Reda Khadra have come to the fore in recent weeks after taking a few months to settle.

Blackburn experienced a watershed moment in their season last month when losing 7-0 at home to Fulham.

Since then they have taken 19 points from a possible 21, including a superb 2-0 success at Bournemouth, and they cannot be discounted in the race for a top two finish.

If Blackburn are to go up automatically, it is unlikely to be at the expense of Fulham, who have been the most consistent team, and suffered their first defeat in 11 matches against Sheffield United on Monday.

The Cottagers retained some key players after last season's relegation including star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, making them the outstanding title contenders.

Mitrovic has plundered 22 goals and gets excellent support from Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson, who has six goals and seven assists to his name, and attackers Fabio Carvalho and Neeskens Kebano, who have bagged four goals each.

Fulham have quality all over the pitch and should go up as champions.

Bournemouth started the season superbly and topped the standings going into the November international break but they have questions to answer after going six games without a win.

Cherries manager Scott Parker has had injuries to contend with, including the month-long absence of key defender Lloyd Kelly, which coincided with their dip in performance, but a general lack of confidence looked to be the main problem when they lost 1-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

They remain second but appear to be going the wrong way and could end up in the playoffs for a second successive season.

West Brom hope to be the ones to take advantage of Bournemouth's loss of form, but their hopes rest on sourcing a reliable striker in January.

The Baggies are by far the lowest scorers in the top four with 30 goals from 22 games and their lack of firepower was obvious when they drew 0-0 at struggling Barnsley last Friday.

Not got a bet365 account? Bet £10 & get £50 in free bets

Open account offer. Minimum deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as bet credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Minimum odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude bet credits stake. Time limits/T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

CLAIM OFFER HERE

MORE FREE BETS

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport