Championship preview - 13/2

Blades Mad's predicted game of the week:

Play-off hopefuls Preston and Blackpool do battle Saturday afternoon in an intense Lancashire derby. The two teams, both steadily moving up the table, lie 9th and 12th respectively - Blackpool 3 points off 6th, PNE 5. Earlier in the campaign, the reverse fixture ended up one a piece, with the Tangerines scoring just seconds after the kick-off! The Lilywhites, though, victorious over the Blades in midweek, replied through a Ross Wallace free-kick on 38 minutes. Preston and Blackpool both entertained the two Sheffield sides on Tuesday, one winning, one losing. United lost 2:1, Wednesday won 2:0. The game is an early kick-off - a 1:00PM start.

Blades Mad's score prediction (Preston 1:3 Blackpool)

Elsewhere in this weekend's Championship:

Swansea entertain Newcastle at The Liberty Stadium. The north-east contingent are looking to go back to first place, with West Brom out of league action tomorrow (Saturday). This game kicks-off at 12:45PM. Doncaster take on high-flying Nottingham Forest, although Billy Davies' men, United's opponents next week, have lost two in three. The two 'Boros' face each other - Middlesbrough tackle rock-bottom Peterborough, and Sheffield United encounter Bristol City at Bramall Lane.

The fixtures in full:

Barnsley vs Plymouth

Coventry vs QPR

Doncaster vs Nottingham Forest

Leicester vs Scunthorpe

Middlesbrough vs Peterborough

Preston vs Blackpool

Sheffield United vs Bristol City

Swansea vs Newcastle (live on Sky Sports)

The current league table:

Latest match Tuesday, 9th February 2010 Pld Home Away Overall Pts EP W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 1 West Bromwich Albion 30 9 2 4 31 15 8 6 1 30 16 17 8 5 61 31 59 +30 2 Newcastle United 29 11 4 0 30 7 6 4 4 18 13 17 8 4 48 20 59 +28 3 Nottingham Forest 30 11 1 3 33 13 4 9 2 13 10 15 10 5 46 23 55 +23 4 Cardiff City 29 7 3 4 24 11 7 3 5 31 24 14 6 9 55 35 48 +20 5 Swansea City 29 7 6 2 13 8 5 6 3 13 12 12 12 5 26 20 48 +6 6 Leicester City 28 7 5 3 18 12 4 5 4 13 16 11 10 7 31 28 43 +3 7 Sheffield United 30 7 6 2 24 15 4 3 8 18 27 11 9 10 42 42 42 0 8 Middlesbrough 30 5 4 6 14 16 6 4 5 28 18 11 8 11 42 34 41 +8 9 Blackpool 30 7 4 4 28 17 3 6 6 18 23 10 10 10 46 40 40 +6 10 Barnsley 29 6 4 5 19 21 5 2 7 19 22 11 6 12 38 43 39 -5 11 Watford 29 7 4 3 26 16 3 4 8 15 27 10 8 11 41 43 38 -2 12 Preston North End 29 6 5 3 20 15 4 3 8 14 25 10 8 11 34 40 38 -6 13 Bristol City 29 6 7 2 22 20 2 6 6 12 20 8 13 8 34 40 37 -6 14 Coventry City 30 6 6 3 20 18 3 4 8 14 23 9 10 11 34 41 37 -7 15 Derby County 30 8 1 6 23 22 2 5 8 10 19 10 6 14 33 41 36 -8 16 Doncaster Rovers 28 6 5 3 20 16 2 5 7 14 20 8 10 10 34 36 34 -2 17 Queens Park Rangers 29 4 6 4 25 21 4 4 7 16 26 8 10 11 41 47 34 -6 18 Sheffield Wednesday 30 6 3 6 23 23 3 4 8 13 24 9 7 14 36 47 34 -11 19 Crystal Palace (-10) 29 6 4 4 17 15 5 6 4 16 16 11 10 8 33 31 33 +2 20 Ipswich Town 29 4 9 2 17 16 2 6 6 17 25 6 15 8 34 41 33 -7 21 Scunthorpe United 29 6 3 5 20 19 3 3 9 14 31 9 6 14 34 50 33 -16 22 Reading 29 3 6 5 12 17 5 2 8 20 29 8 8 13 32 46 32 -14 23 Plymouth Argyle 28 4 2 8 13 17 3 1 10 11 23 7 3 18 24 40 24 -16 24 Peterborough United 30 4 5 6 24 26 0 4 11 9 27 4 9 17 33 53 21 -20

Colour key   League Champions   Relegation place(s)   Team(s) to be transferred   Promotion place(s)   Play-off place(s)   Team(s) set to merge

Points adjustments 28/01/2010 Crystal Palace Deducted ten points for entering administration.

Position ordering Teams level on both goal difference and goals scored are initially ordered according to the results of any matches played between one another.

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