Latest Championship Odds: Seven to the Top as Boro Drop

The Championship resumed this weekend after the international break, and a few questions have arisen after the first game back.

Mind the Gap?

Coventry City are storming on their way to the Premier League. In recent game weeks, they have had a gap to Middlesbrough, but it has never really looked too big to overcome. Now, though, it seems to be heading that way.

This weekend, despite being 2-0 down at one point, the Sky Blues came back to win 3-2 in Saturday's early kick-off. A sixth home win for the season and a fifth in a row. Frank Lampard's team are flying.

However, spirits were only lifted on Saturday by the other big result at the top of the league.

After going behind in the first half, Middlesbrough managed to level the game 35 minutes from time, thanks to Morgan Whittaker. Despite a strong effort to gain an advantage, they could not find one.

So, the Red Army had to settle for a draw away from home - a far from ideal result, indeed.

As a result of them dropping points, it now means that Cov have a seven-point advantage in first place, and it is hard to see them losing that. So, that is it for this section. Especially given the gap to third is 10 (yes, TEN) points.

The league is Coventry's to lose, and seeing as their title winner odds are at 8/13 with most of the best football bookmakers, the value is quickly dropping.

Stuck Already?

Given that aforementioned gap to the top, it is tough to see many really getting into a title conversation. So, the other automatic spot may be the best chance for a few clubs, especially with Middlesbrough slipping slightly.

Stoke only have a three-point gap to second, so they could certainly stretch into an automatic place. Saying that, though, they could have done so this weekend.

Sitting on 27 points, had the Potters won, they would be second in the league. However, a second league defeat in a row has prevented that, with Leicester City getting the better of them. A missed opportunity.

Things are very close behind them, too.

Bristol City have returned to a position of strength after their win this weekend. A convincing 3-0 victory against Swansea is a massive result, and after a few up-and-down games, this could be the start of a resurgence up the table.

Preston and Hull take the final two spots in the play-offs, despite them (and Millwall) losing at the weekend. However, this has opened the field up to several teams.

17th-placed West Brom are only four points away from sixth, and it seems increasingly likely that the play-off picture will fill the league with six-pointers for the foreseeable future. It could be a fantastic few weeks moving forward.

As a result of this, too, we have some nice prices available! Fourth-placed Bristol City are as high as 5/2 to get a top-six spot with the Flutter brands, and seventh-placed Millwall are 6/1 with William Hill.

Steel City Derby and Stuffing

At the bottom, there was, perhaps, the biggest game in this season's Championship - at least in terms of rivalries.

The Steel City Derby, one of the biggest in England, with a different context. In recent years, its importance has been at the top end of the table, with an equally important focus on the bottom. However, this was not the case this weekend.

Instead, it was two teams in dire need of three points to try to get slightly away from the drop zone. Albeit, United look in a much better position of doing so, thanks to that 12-point deduction for the Owls.

A 3-0 win at Hillsborough has lifted spirits in the red half of the city, and the Blades are only a point away from leaving the bottom three.

Norwich sit in the middle of the Sheffield Pair, and they were given a bit of a stuffing this weekend by Birmingham City. The Blues were 3-1 up in the first half, before adding a fourth in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Canaries are Evens with some bookmakers, but BetVictor have them at 5/4 to go down.

Oxford's draw this weekend has helped massively, given that they are still a point outside of the drop zone. However, they are far from being considered safe, with bookmakers pricing them below evens.