Wednesday Championship match predictions, free bets & analysis

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Wednesday's Championship fixtures

Where to watch

Sky Sports Red Button, from 7.45pm Wednesday

Best bets

QPR
1pt 17-10 Betfred

Derby draw no bet
1pt 11-8bet365

Verdict

QPR have been licking their wounds since the concession of an injury-time goal in their 1-1 draw at home to Nottingham Forest on Friday night and the Hoops may take out their frustrations on Cardiff.

There are high hopes among QPR's fanbase this season and with good reason because they have assembled a talented group of players capable of sustaining a genuine promotion push.

A lack of consistency has been their downfall but they are scoring plenty of goals - 26 in 15 matches - and should possess enough quality to expose struggling Cardiff, even if Scottish international centre-forward Lyndon Dykes fails to shake off a minor injury.

Mark Warburton has the option of deploying Charlie Austin or Andre Gray to lead the line, and can usually rely on regular goalscoring contributions from talented attacking midfielders Ilias Chair and Chris Willock.

Cardiff will be looking to build on Saturday's remarkable 3-3 draw at Stoke, when they recovered from 3-0 down. However, the Bluebirds have lost five of seven home league games this season and another reverse looks on the cards.

Derby continue to prop up the table due to their 12-point deduction but they have been competitive in every game they've played and may have the edge over fellow strugglers Barnsley at Oakwell.

Barnsley are going through the process of appointing a replacement for Markus Schopp, who was dismissed on Monday, and the task of selecting a team to face Derby falls on the shoulders of Schopp's former assistant, Joe Laumann.

However, Laumann faces a tough task raising the spirits of a team who have lost seven successive games.

The Tykes look a shadow of the team which reached the playoffs last season and Derby may take advantage.

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