Goalscorer predictions: Swansea and Cardiff forwards among Championship selections
- Recommended bets:
- Back Ben Brereton to score against Norwich
- Back Joel Piroe to score against Coventry
- Back Viktor Gyokeres to score against Swansea
- Back Callum Robinson to score against Blackpool
- Back Chuba Akpom to score against Burnley
With nine games in the Championship on Saturday, we have picked out five potential goalscorers to keep an eye on.
Ben Brereton is the joint-top scorer in the Championship with nine goals and showed his prowess against top-tier opposition last month when netting against West Ham to help knock the Premier League side out of the Carabao Cup.
A host of big clubs were interested in signing the Chile international in the summer and it is easy to see why, with Brereton’s all-round game too much for most Championship defenders.
His team might be struggling for form, but two goals in his last four outings suggest he remains unaffected.
Against a Norwich side who have kept just two clean sheets in their last 11 league outings, there should be more chances for Brereton.
Swansea attacker Joel Piroe is lagging behind the top scorers in the Championship with five goals but it is not for a lack of trying.
No other second tier player has unleashed more shots per game than the Dutch forward and he will be hopeful of adding to his tally this weekend against Coventry.
Piroe has been getting into plenty of excellent positions without the ball quite dropping for him this season, with his relatively modest goal output down more to bad luck than bad judgement.
Having scored 22 Championship goals last season, his confidence does not seem to have been dented and it is hard to imagine that his mini-drought will continue for much longer.
Facing Piroe in the Coventry vs Swansea clash is Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres, who hit four goals in Coventry’s final three games before the World Cup break to lift himself joint-top of the Championship scoring charts on nine.
Gyokeres has forced himself into the international reckoning over the past couple of years but got to enjoy a break during the World Cup as his home nation, Sweden, failed to qualify for Qatar.
He will be raring to go and will be looking to get back to goalscoring ways against a Swansea side who have kept just two clean sheets in their last 12 outings.
In a tense game between two teams looking to avoid relegation, Ireland international Callum Robinson could provide the spark needed to earn Cardiff a home win over Blackpool.
Despite the Bluebirds' struggles, Robinson has been getting himself into good attacking positions and only five Championship players have managed more shots per game this season.
His endeavours have brought him four Championship goals and four assists in 2022-23 — as well as a goal for his nation in a November friendly against Malta — and all of them have come recently, with five goals in his last 11 outings for club and country.
Second-from-bottom Blackpool have conceded two goals or more in six of their 11 league away games this term and have managed just five clean sheets all season, so Robinson has a great chance to add to his tally this weekend.
Chuba Akpom has been in fantastic goalscoring form for Middlesbrough this season, racking up nine goals in just 12 starts for Boro and scoring in seven of his last nine appearances.
The 27-year-old striker faces tough opposition in the form of table-topping Burnley but netted a brace against second-place Sheffield United earlier in the season so will not be daunted.
Hosts Burnley are in superb form but are not the most defensively resilient side in the second tier. Despite winning six of their last seven matches, they have conceded eight goals in their last five matches.