Matchday 39 of the Championship will begin with league leaders West Bromwich Albion making the trip to Brentford on Friday night. The west London outfit were the only club from the top six to come up with a victory in the previous matchday and a win over the Baggies could see them with an outside chance of finishing in the top two to secure automatic promotion to the top-flight.
Three matches to watch out for in Matchday 39:
Brentford vs West Bromwich Albion: Thomas Frank’s side resumed their campaign after the COVID-19 break last weekend with a hard-fought 2-0 win over cross-town rivals Fulham and that reduced their gap to the top-two to eight points. They now have the opportunity to lower the deficit to five points, should they manage to get the better of the Baggies. On the other hand, Slaven Bilic’s men can take another step closer to automatic promotion with a victory at Griffin Park. They could potentially go 10 points clear of the third-placed team, suppose Leeds manage to beat Fulham on Saturday.
Leeds United vs Fulham: Both teams suffered 2-0 defeats in their opening matches following the season restart and they will be determined to come up with better displays. Leeds are presently seven points ahead of third-placed Fulham in the standings and they could edge towards a long-awaited promotion with three points on Saturday. Similarly, the Cottagers have everything to play for in the contest and a victory could put them within striking distance of an automatic promotion spot with seven games to play. The visitors are unbeaten against Leeds in the previous seven meetings and have won their last two encounters.
Stoke City vs Middlesbrough: The game can be regarded as a relegation six-pointer with both teams lying just above the drop zone. Stoke are presently two points ahead of the bottom three while Middlesbrough are only separated from the relegation places by virtue of goal difference. Boro recently changed their manager with Neil Warnock taking charge from Jonathan Woodgate and it will be interesting to see whether there is an instant manager bounce. Michael O’Neill’s side may be unbeaten for five league games, but Boro have had the edge over them with victories in the previous two meetings.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com and 11vs11.com
