5 things to watch for the in EFL – Matchday 14

We’re now over a quarter of the way through the EFL season and the managerial merry-go-round is in full swing across the Championship, League One and League Two as teams look to recover from disappointing starts.

Plenty of sides near the top have suffered setbacks in recent weeks and will now be desperate to prove that those results are mere blips and not the start of something more serious.

As always, there’s lots to keep your eye on in the EFL this weekend – here’s five things to watch out for.

Royals to roll on against Rangers?

While QPR flirted with the play-offs last season, few would have predicted that Reading would be sitting a couple of points off the top after 12 games of this campaign. The Royals were plenty of pundits’ choice for relegation this season, but Paul Ince’s side have defied the odds and are third in the table after Tuesday’s impressive 1-1 draw with second-place Norwich.

On Friday night they take on a team just behind them in the table, QPR, who themselves are fresh off an excellent 1-0 away win over league leaders Sheffield United. However, there’s something about Fridays that doesn’t appear to agree with QPR, who have lost 10 of their last 14 home league games to take place on this day. Reading are 10/3 to win at Loftus Road, and we have Enhanced Odds of 11/2 that the Royals find the net in both halves.

QPR’s trump card may be Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes, who has scored three goals in three league games against Reading, including a brace in last season’s 4-0 win. We have Enhanced Odds of 6/1 on Dykes to score first with our Top Price Guarantee.

Norwich to push through Preston’s roadblock?

Norwich’s unbeaten run now stretches to nine league games after their draw at Reading midweek, and Dean Smith’s Canaries are joint-top of the Championship heading into the weekend. Next up for Norwich is the statistical oddity that is Preston North End, who have seen a grand total of eight goals scored in their 12 games so far – four for, four against.

Preston beat West Brom on Wednesday and are yet to concede on the road so far this season. No side in the Football League has ever kept a clean sheet in their opening six away league games of a season. Preston are 19/5 to make history with another shutout at Norwich. A draw is 13/5.

Norwich will certainly put that sturdy Preston defence to the test, though. The Canaries are among the highest scorers in the Championship, with Josh Sargent leading the way with six goals. A Norwich win with Sargent scoring the opener is 9/2.

Can Fotheringham break Huddersfield’s new manager curse?

Sunday lunchtime sees a clash between two teams who are a lot closer to the bottom of the table than their fans would have expected before a ball was kicked this season – and each side’s respective managers have paid the price in recent weeks. Both Hull and Huddersfield have changed their boss, and this will be Mark Fotheringham’s first home match in charge of the Terriers. He will hope to break an ominous streak of new Huddersfield bosses: each of the club’s last six permanent managers have lost their first home game, and Hull are 21/10 to make it seven in a row.

Huddersfield, though, have won their last four league matches against Hull – and the Tigers have struggled on the road of late, losing five out of their last seven away league games and conceding 19 in the process. We have Huddersfield 13/10 to win this one, and 19/5 to win with both teams scoring.

Pilgrims marching on in League One

Plymouth are on fire in League One, topping the table following impressive home wins over Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday in their last two games at Home Park. The Pilgrims have a perfect record on their own patch, with six wins from six, and will believe they can make it a magnificent seven against Accrington on Saturday.

Plymouth are 4/5 to win and strengthen their place at the top of the table. Striker Niall Ennis has scored in all of his previous three Football League matches against Accrington and is 7/2 to get the opener on Saturday.

Shootout at Sixfields

The tastiest tie in League Two should be Salford’s visit to Sixfields Stadium, as third-placed Northampton host fifth-placed City. Northampton could potentially top the table with a win, while the prize for Salford is closing the gap on those automatic promotion spots.

The Cobblers have never lost a Football League meeting with Salford – three wins and a draw – and are 7/5 to record a home win on Saturday. Salford are in good form themselves, though, and have won their last two away league matches – they’ve never won three away games in a row in a single Football League season, but are 19/10 to upset Northampton in this one.