Latest Championship Odds: Gap Emerges for Boro at the Top

A gap has opened at the top of the Championship table, and Middlesbrough have a nice advantage. At the bottom, a similar feeling is emerging, with a rather large gap becoming apparent.

Middlesbrough on a Roll

It is a bit of a shock that Boro are not the favourites for the Championship title at this point in all honesty. The Reds have been fantastic so far this season, only dropping points last weekend in a draw against Preston.

This weekend, it was a case of carrying on business as usual, as they picked up a huge 2-1 win in the Friday night kick-off at the Riverside. As a result, their lead at the top of the Championship now has stretched to four points, with only Ipswich and Blackburn playing fewer games. That price of 11/2 looks really nice.

Above them, at least in the odds, is actually the Tractor Boys, whose game got postponed this weekend. However, their opposition will certainly feel hard done by. With 10 minutes left to play, Blackburn were leading and will feel like they are in a negative situation from this decision.

Either way, it is another game where Town have not looked brilliant, so the fact that they are still title favourites is a bit questionable. Nevertheless, that means we can pick up value elsewhere!

Coventry fans, are you ready? All season, I have held off giving them a spot in this section of the round-ups. Well, that is now changing, with their odds now firmly in third place, if not even second...

Another draw this weekend is less than ideal. However, the fact that it has come against Leicester, with another clean sheet kept, is certainly promising. More wins would be ideal, of course. However, Frank Lampard's team are solid and have gotten some difficult games out of the way.

If they were a slightly higher price, I would probably consider backing them...

Very Tight Together

Things are a bit tight as you move further down the Championship, and by further down, we mean from first place to around 10th. There are nine teams between 12 points and 10, and even then, 16th-placed Wrexham are only three points behind.

Right now, the favourites for one of the spots in the Top Six are Birmingham, who returned to winning ways after back-to-back losses in recent weeks and are in a good position for promotion. The Blues managed to scrape a late win, thanks to a 94th-minute Lydon Dykes goal, sending St Andrew's into rapture.

Sitting on 10 points is enough to sneak into sixth place, and they have been fairly solid since their return to the Championship. Additionally, their fixtures have not been excellent thus far, so I don't think there will be any complaints.

Southampton follow them in the odds, but they are on the drift a little after another loss this weekend. The Saints have really failed to hit the ground running since returning to the Championship, only picking up three points in their last five games.

Despite losing their past two games, West Brom follow in the odds at 6/4, which is certainly a little questionable.

However, Stoke look a decent price at 9/4 for a play-off spot. They sit second in the league right now on 12 points, so have a bit of a bumper to the teams around them, albeit not by much, admittedly.

Nevertheless, at the price, they are certainly worth considering, even if they were beaten by QPR this weekend, who have been on the rise a little in recent weeks and could even be worth considering.

In other words, although things are tight, there are several chances for value to be taken, at least at the moment.

Pointless... Still

We can't start this differently just yet. Sheffield United are still the only team not to pick up a point in this season's Championship so far. In fact, they are one of just two teams in the top four English leagues not to have gotten a draw or better so far this season.

This weekend, it was a late goal from Isaac Olaofe that kept them from that elusive first point of the season. Even Chris Wilder could not change their fate on his first chance of doing so; it seems like it will probably get worse yet before it gets better.

Despite their win this weekend, their close neighbours, Sheffield Wednesday, remain the favourites for the drop at odds of 1/10, if not worse. However, it feels wrong to be negative after a comfortable 2-0 win away from home.

Portsmouth have been pretty hit and miss so far this season, but nothing can be taken away from the Owls.

Taking the final spot in the bottom three is Derby County, who were beaten narrowly by Preston North End at Pride Park. After last weekend's win against West Brom, there was hope for improvement. It has not arrived just yet, though.

It is also worth mentioning the two teams just outside the relegation zone on five points, as well as Derby, those being Watford and Oxford United.

The former lost on Monday night, narrowly against Millwall, meaning they are now without a win in four games, losing their last two. Whilst Oxford's weekend was much better, thanks to a 3-1 win against Oxford United on Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps them being such a low price for relegation is a bit unfair, considering they schooled the Robins on their own turf.