Championship week 2 preview

Middlesbrough vs Bolton Wanderers – Saturday 15th August 15:00 – Riverside Stadium

Middlesbrough must be disappointed with their 0-0 draw to newly promoted, Preston North End at Deepdale last week as they managed to dominate the game possession wise however a lack of shots and none being on target will have to change if Boro want to get the promotion that they so want. They may have wrapped up the deal for David Nugent in time for the Bolton match and he could be the force that is needed to drive Aitor Karanka’s side forward however what Boro lack in attacking ability, the make up in defensive ability.

Bolton held Derby County to a 0-0 Draw, even though they went down to 10 men. Bolton had 12 shots overall and will need to work on converting them into goals as you cant win matches if you don’t score goals. Jay Spearing will be missed as he is a strong first team player who is crucial to Bolton’s line up. He has a 3 match ban for the red card that he received.

Predicted Score– Boro should beat Bolton as they are much stronger but if they cant find someone to score then they may struggle but I think that the strikers will be better this game. Middlesbrough 2-0 Bolton

MK Dons vs Preston North End – Saturday 15th August 15:00 – Stadium MK

MK Dons had one of the shock scorelines of the week as they beat Rotherham 4-1 away. They put a dominant performance on in their first ever Championship match and many didn’t expect a win of that size. They only had 8 shots but scored from 4 of those aswell as dominating the possession of the game. MK Dons may not get promoted this season but they have certainly raised peoples expectations on where they will finish and the Dons will want to continue a strong start to the season by winning in front of their home crowd.

Preston held promotion favourites Middlesbrough to a 0-0 draw at home in last week’s match. They managed to keep the shot count low by making sure that a low amount of balls came into their box from the wings. However Boro did the same to Preston and they will want to fix this as MK Dons could use this flaw against Preston this week which could lead to goals from both sides.

Predicted score– Both teams will want to remain unbeaten in their start to this season but MK Dons momentum may be the thing that carries them forward. MK Dons 2-1 Preston

Nottingham Forest vs Rotherham United – Saturday 15th August 15:00 – The City Ground

Nottingham Forest suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss to Brighton in the first game of the season. It looked likely that the game was to be a 0-0 draw until Lua Lua scored in the second half. A sudden lapse in concentration from the defence led to this match winning goal and cost Forest a game which it looked like Forest would win comfortably. Forest need to learn quickly that they need to focus for the full 90 minutes.

Rotherham suffered a 4-1 defeat to MK Dons in a horrendous display from the Yorkshire team. It wasn’t like Rotherham were out of the game at any point either as they had plenty of shots, just they could only score 1 goal. They need to improve in all area’s if they wish to stand a chance against Forest and forget about the disappointing result against MK Dons.

Predicted score– Rotherham will struggle this season and Forest will take advantage of their weaknesses to win the game quite comfortably. Forest 3-0 Rotherham.

QPR vs Cardiff City – Saturday 15th August 15:00 – Loftus Road

QPR suffered a surprise 2-0 loss to Charlton after being relegated from the Premier League. Even though they had Charlie Austin who scored 18 goals last season in the Premier League they couldn’t find the back of the net. This was due to the lack of chances that were created by QPR and manager Chris Ramsey has a lot of hard work to put in and this is what they will need to work on if they wish to improve their result when they play Cardiff on this Saturday.

Cardiff City managed to scrape a late equaliser against Fulham to draw 1-1. Cardiff had more possession and shots than Fulham however they only managed to snatch a draw so something has to change if they wish to beat QPR. They will need to be strong at the back as QPR will be all out attack in order to get the full three points and Cardiff will need to prepare for the likely onslaught.

Predicted score– QPR will want to make up for the loss last week but both teams are equal in ability. QPR 1-1 Cardiff

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Hull City – Sunday 16th August 12:00 – Mollinuex Stadium

Wolves started off the new season in the right fashion and something they will hope to continue as they aim to be promoted come the end of the season, with a win over Blackburn Rovers. They will face Hull city at home this week and they will both be in a promotion battle by the end of the season. This game will have two strong teams and Wolves will want to make sure that Benik Afobe will again be on form if they wish to win over Hull City.

Hull City convincingly won against Huddersfield 2-0 last week and they will want to match that result again if they want to set an early pace in the Championship. They will need to be strong in defence as Afobe is a very strong player and Wolves attacking driving force. If he gets the opportunity, he is likely to take his chance in front of goal  so Hull will ook to shut him out of the game early.

Predicted score-Both teams are good strong teams but I think Wolves might just win this game as they are a strong home team. Wolves 2-1 Hull

Reading vs Leeds United – Sunday 16th August 15:00 – Madejski

Reading were unfortunate in their 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City last week even though Reading put in a decent performance. The Royals will need to work on their attacking ability as they had 20 shots in the whole game but failed to convert the majority. They will be working hard on the training ground this week as Steve Clarke prepares his side for the visit of Leeds United.

Leeds drew to Burnley at home last week. Both teams had late goals in the game and neither put in an inspiring performance to get their season off to a good start. Leeds will need to work harder to put the goals away and are a bit of an unknown quantity under Uwe Rosler this season, so it may take a few weeks to see what end of the table they will be at.

Predicted score– Reading will want to put in a performance at home in front of their loyal fans and should be hard to beat at home so we expect them to win this week. Reading 2-0 Leeds.