Championship football betting preview - Sheffield United vs Newcastle

Newcastle travel to Sheffield United in the Championship tonight looking to go back to the top of the table after winning only one of their last five matches. The magpies sit in third place, just one point behind league leaders West Brom. Sheffield have more to worry about, with only one win in their last eight, in fifteenth in the league.

Newcastle are slight favourites for the game at 6/4 (bet $40 to win $60 profit), making the Blades underdogs at 15/8. The men from the Steel City have leaked goals at home all season, keeping just one clean sheet in eight games, and in eleven of their last twelve matches the opposition have scored inside the first hour. Newcastle look likely to continue this run,failing to score on their travels only once in seven away games so far this year.

The bookies seem to think that Sheffield have been under performing and that this will be a closer game  than it may appear, making 1-1 the favourite score at 6/1. 1-0 to Sheffield is at 13/2 and 1-0 to Newcastle is 15/2. 2-1 to the Magpies is 9/1 and 0-0 is 10/1.

Newcastle`s Andy Carroll and Marlon Harewood are joint-favourites to open the scoring tonight at 13/2. Sheffield`s twenty year-old Welsh striker Ched Evans is next at 7/1 followed by Darius Henderson at 8/1.

The half-time/full-time market highlights how close the bookies think this game will be with Newcastle/Newcastle at 10/3 the most likely scenario. Sheffield/Sheffield is not far behind at all, however, at 4/1, and draw/draw is at the same price. Draw/Newcastle is 9/2 and draw/Sheffield is 5/1.

Newcastle are second favourites to win the Championship this year at 3/1, but will need a return to their early season form to achieve this. Sheffield United are not seen as strong challengers for the league at 33/1, but will aim at promotion, for which they are 8/1.