Sports Blog 05/08/2016: Football Preview – Championship + FA Community Shield, Friday 5th to Sunday 7th August 2016

In something of an amuse-bouche for the Premier League main course next weekend this Friday sees the start of the new Championship season, while Sunday brings with it the FA Community Shield!

First up is the lower league debut of Rafa Benitez, whose Newcastle travel to Fulham at 7.45pm on Sky Sports 1. The Toon will expect to bounce straight back into the Premier League, especially since they closed out last season with a rampant 5-1 win over Tottenham. The summer has so far seen the departure of Georginio Wijnaldum, with Moussa Sissoko likely soon on his way as well; Benitez has been busy buying, however, the most notable signings being Dwight Gayle (who has a Super Mega PGM of 26-31) from Crystal Palace, Matt Ritchie from Bournemouth and Mohamed Diame from Hull.



As for their London opponents, well, Fulham haven’t got a very high bar to clear in terms of beating last season’s 20th place finish. Frustratingly the Cottagers have lost their 2 top scorers from last year, with Ross McCormack heading to Aston Villa and Moussa Dembele jumping on a plane to Celtic. That leaves Matt Smith, who only scored 2 goals in 2015/16, as their best chance in front of goal, and heads into tonight’s game at a Super Mega PGM of 18-22. Rafa Benitez will be looking for the Toon to set the tone for the rest of their season on Friday, with Spreadex offering a Newcastle/Fulham (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.4-0.6 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.6-2.8.

Flashing to Sunday and it’s a firmly mid-table affair, as last season’s 12th place QPR take on 13th place Leeds at 12pm on Sky Sports 1. Neither side will have been happy with their limp end to 2015/16, though only one team has seen a change at the top, with former Swansea manager Gary Monk now in charge at Elland Road. The main bit of business for the Northern club has been taking Kemar Roofe off the hands of Oxford United, the 23 year old having been the club’s top scorer during their successful promotion from League Two.



While there have been no real backroom changes QPR will be hoping that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who took over the London-club in December, can find more consistency in his first full season at the helm. Sadly for the former Dutch international QPR’s most notable activity in the transfer window has been having Leroy Fer and Matt Phillips poached by Swansea and West Brom respectively. There isn’t much at this point to separate the 2 teams, with Spreadex offering a QPR/Leeds Goal Supremacy spread of 0.25-0.45 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.2-2.4.

Sunday’s final Championship match seems another former Premier League staple in action, as Aston Villa travel to Sheffield Wednesday at 4.30pm on Sky Sports 1. There is no other way to put it: Villa were truly woeful last season, finishing with half the points of 19th place Norwich. Yet there are a few signs that the side could soon find its way back into the Premier League. Roberto Di Matteo is a strong managerial signing for a Championship team, while the fact that the club has (so far) kept hold of the likes of Jordan Ayew is a huge bonus. Perhaps the savviest move has been the signing of Ross McCormack for £12 million; despite Fulham finishing in 20th place he was the 2nd top scorer in the Championship last season with 21 goals, hopefully fixing a long-standing problem of Villa’s.



Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, a rather unlucky not to be in the Premier League this season, losing the Championship play-off final to Hull 1-0. They’ve been busy since then, however, with Wednesday eyeing up the dregs of the top flight; in doing so they’ve brought on board Sunderland’s Stephen Fletcher and Almen Abdi and Daniel Pudil, both from Watford. Give just how bad Villa were last season our Spreadex traders aren’t expecting much of a turnaround this early into 2016/17, offering a Sheffield Wednesday/Aston Villa Goal Supremacy spread of 0.3-0.5 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.2-2.4.

That’s not all the football this weekend has to offer, however! Sunday will give fans the first proper glimpse of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, as well as a look at post-champions Leicester, when the 2 sides meet in the FA Community Shield. Though they have quite clinched Pogba United have still be very active in the transfer window; Eric Bailly joined from Villarreal, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined from Borussia Dortmund. The biggest arrival, however, came for free, with the imposing figure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic chasing one of the few leagues he hasn’t won.



Leicester haven’t been quite as extravagant in the transfer market, though they have made a few savvy moves to a) replace N’Golo Kante and b) enhance what they already have. Nice’s Nampalys Mendy seems set to replace Kante, while Cracovia’s Bartosz Kapustka gives them added versatility on the wings. The most notable signing is Ahmed Musa. Leicester broke their transfer record to bring the Nigerian from CSKA Moscow for £16 million, and he has already shown promise, scoring twice in the Foxes’ International Champions Cup defeat to Barcelona. Our traders aren’t convinced, however, that the champions can match last season’s form, instead offering a Manchester United/Leicester Goal Supreamacy spread of 0.55-0.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.45-2.65.

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