Jack Wright's Weekend 12/1 Fivefold

Brentford were blown away by a previously winless in 2024 West Ham side on Monday night. Two goals down inside the opening seven minutes the Bees never recovered with Thomas Frank admitting his side simply were not good enough. Something of a regular theme when considering they have lost five of their last six league games and 10 of the last 12.

Chelsea was accused of “bottling” the Carabao Cup final last Sunday. Despite putting up an xG of over two, the Blues failed to score and lost 1-0 to Liverpool. We should expect a response from Mauricio Pochettino’s men here as they look to improve on an abject 11th position in the table. Recent 3-1 wins over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace as well as a more than deserved draw at Manchester City show they hold the talent. They should have too much for a Brentford side that have slid to 16th in the table just five points above the drop zone.

Leeds’ winning march continued apace last Friday with a 3-1 defeat of league leaders Leicester at Elland Road. Daniel Farke has now guided his side to nine consecutive wins in the Championship, incredibly winning every game so far in 2024. The German head coach certainly hasn’t given up hope on securing a third title at this level. The FA Cup tie with Chelsea won’t prove too much of a hindrance either judging by the injury list to his players which include “a little bruise” his sights are firmly set on this trip to the Terriers.

Huddersfield have shown an upturn in form collecting nine points from the last 15 on offer. But defeats to Southampton and Hull in that run show they still come up short against the best the division has to offer.

League One looks set for an epic finale with the top four clubs all chasing those two much coveted automatic promotion spots to the Championship. This represents a massive opportunity for Derby to stay in the box seat to achieve that goal.

Port Vale have plummeted down the table and are now in a relegation dog fight. Not helped by away form which has seen them lose each of their last four road trips.

League leaders Portsmouth suffered a minor bump in the road last weekend as they couldn’t break down a stubborn Charlton side under their new manager Nathan Jones. The visit of Oxford should prove a more open affair with the visitors keeping just one clean sheet in the last 10 on the road. Pompey have won their last three at Fratton Park scoring 11 goals in the process. While at the back no keeper in the top five English divisions has achieved more shut outs than Will Norris this season. The summer signing from Burnley has kept 16 clean sheets in his 35 league appearances so far.

This looks a great opportunity to side with a fresh team who have been able to give sole focus to this fixture. Bradford’s game at Barrow on Saturday fell victim to a call off just over an hour before kick-off. But that at least gives Graham Alexander a clear week of training before the traditionally frantic end to the season. The Bantams are in a good spell of form too winning each of their last three league games including victories over title chasing Wrexham and MK Dons.

Life is not so rosy for Stuart Maynard at Notts County. A 3-1 home defeat to Crewe was a fourth in his first six games in charge and his Magpies side also had a midweek clash with Sutton United to navigate before this trip to Yorkshire.