Football – England – Championship
Friday 26th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Sheffield Wednesday suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday as The Owls have now lost their last two league matches on the trot with an earlier loss to Wolves at Hillsborough.
But Wednesday have a great chance of bouncing back this afternoon though with the visit of beleaguered Blackpool at Hillsborough, and having recently held Norwich City and Rotherham United to draws and a win over struggling Wigan Athletic 2-1, The Owls could be set for a welcome three points here today.
Sheffield Wednesday’s overall home record stands at 2-5-4 5/10 and while goals have obviously been hard to come by, Blackpool’s current form should present a few goalscoring chances for the hosts in this encounter.
Onto the visitors Blackpool then, and just when new manager Lee Clark seemed to have steadied the ship relatively speaking, his side were whalloped 6-1 at home by Championship league leaders Bournemouth on Saturday.
Ironically, Blackpool’s only win in their last eleven league matches was against Clark’s former side Birmingham City at Bloomfield Road, but on the road they have continued to struggle to find their first win of the season as their away record stands at a very disappointing 0-5-6 10/21.
Recent draws at Fulham, Rotherham United and Charlton Athletic will give The Seasiders hope of getting something from this match, but with just one clean sheet to their name and having failed to score in four matches themselves, a draw seems their best hope in this one.
Wednesday should be up for this clash particularly with home advantage behind them and I daresay manager Stuart Gray will be impressing upon his players the importance of all three points as they look to keep the bottom three out of reach. Let’s go for The Owls to win this one then perhaps 1-0.
Pick: Sheffield Wednesday straight win @ 1.70 Ladbrokes
