January 19 Championship Betting Tips

Betting Online Team

Football Betting Tips

5 August, 2024

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Middlesbrough v Millwall

Here’s the first of our January 19 Championship betting tips – Middlesborough v Millwall. Middlesbrough go into game 28 of their season with a record reading 12 wins and 10 draws against five defeats; that’s good enough for fifth in the table. The Smoggies are currently five points inside the play-off places and only four off the pace needed to finish in the top two and grab an automatic lift to the Premier League. They are unbeaten in three and will rate their chances of going all the way back to the top-flight without the need for an extended season, when football becomes a lottery. Another maximum pay-out here would throw them further into the mix.

Boro hammered Peterborough United 5-0 in the FA Cup on 5 January. Although that result was expected, the performance and goals scored helped add further confidence to the dressing room as we approach a crucial stage of the season. They built on that cup win with a 2-1 victory over a stubborn Birmingham City on the road, edging the result thanks to goals from Wing and Assombalonga; this was enough to better an opponent who kept things interesting through a reply from Adams on 79 minutes. Triumphant manager, Tony Pulis, told the press at full-time his men should have put the game out of sight in the first-half and they almost paid the ultimate price for failing to do that.

Lions Toothless

Millwall have been surprisingly poor for most of this season so far and that’s the reason you’ll find the Londoners treading water down in 20^th. They sit just two places higher than the relegation zone with only five more points on the board than Reading down in 22^nd. Fans are growing increasingly nervy as we head towards the business end of the season with the threat of relegation still hanging over them. They’ve lost two of their last five and were beaten on their most recent start.

That reverse came when going down to Blackburn Rovers at the Den on Saturday; goals from Nuttall and Armstrong heaped pressure on their hosts. Millwall looked like they had done enough to secure a point; however, they conceded two goals in the last four minutes and that floored fans. To make matters worse, the late defeat came on the back of three wins on the bounce, including a thrilling 3-2 over Ipswich Town away from home to get the year off to a great start. Ferguson broke the deadlock from the penalty spot that day and there were also goal bonuses paid out to Cooper and Elliott. Neil Harris was happy his side were able to put a horrendous first-half behind them to claim the spoils.

Closer Than You’d Expect

We fancy this game to be a little closer than you’d expect if taking the match on league positions alone. Millwall are well below where they would’ve hoped to be at this point of the season; however, they were good enough to rhyme off three wins on the bounce and came close to collecting a point last weekend before suffering that late collapse. There’s plenty of fight in this team and they’ll strengthen in January to ensure they keep their place in the Championship.

Bookies have had no trouble pricing Middlesbrough as favourite and we can’t be surprised by that, but it would be foolish to completely write Millwall off and, for that reason, we can’t back Boro at a tight looking 3/4 with 888sport. There doesn’t look to be any value in it. Millwall are difficult to trust themselves but the 17/4, top price at Unibet, is sure to attract a fair share of attention. We’re going to sit on the fence and back the draw at 5/2. Bet with bet365 and you’ll get market best odds of 5/2, compared to the 12/5 with most other firms.

Flicking through the stats and we see these sides finished level in the reverse of this fixture when meeting earlier in the season. 2-2 was the score back in August with goals for O’Brien and Gregory cancelled out by Braithwaite and Friend, the latter two coming in the last three minutes of the contest, proving Millwall must learn to see matches out. Both teams to score appeals at 11/10 with most firms, including Bet365.

Our Tip: A draw – 5/2 at Bet365