It was quite surprising to see the bookmaker algorithm spit out an odds-against price for Sheffield United here.

Whilst Leeds might well be the highest rated team in the Championship, it is the case that Sheffield United are top of the league, and have gained the most points by some margin when taking into account their points deduction.

The Blades are in good form as well, unbeaten in 10 Championship matches, winning 8. Both of their league defeats have been away from home, both in a week against Leeds and Middlesbrough, 2 of the most difficult destinations in the league to go to. Indeed, Sheffield United have had pretty difficult away fixtures so far. They have only once been odds-on away from home so far this season, which was at Portsmouth early in the season, they were backed into 1.78 this time.

Cardiff are the lowest-placed team that Sheffield United have faced away from home since Portsmouth, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them go off at a much shorter price here. The only time that there has been a significant drift against Sheffield United this season was when they went away to Middlesbrough, but this was partly because of the very short turnaround from losing at Leeds a few days earlier.

The Bluebirds will be hoping that their appointment of Omer Riza, at least until the end of the season, will stabilise them enough to avoid relegation, but they should be backed against here. They have 4  home wins, but they all came in a row after Riza’s initial appointment as caretaker, they have lost 3 in a row at home since.

Leeds went off at an average of 1.66 earlier this season at Cardiff, Middlesbrough went off at 2.02, even Millwall went off at around 2.29, not far off the current Blades price. Whilst they may not match the performance metrics of Leeds, one would still expect the kick-off price of the league leaders to be closer to 1.66 than their current price.

Whilst Northampton aren’t necessarily in the best form themselves, Charlton are in form bad enough to want to oppose them at a price anywhere near the 2.15 that they currently are for this one.

The Addicks haven’t won in 4, and although they have had a couple of away victories recently, the majority have been in cup competitions.

It is the pricing that is the main reason to place this bet now. Charlton are a shorter price than they were when they kicked off against Stevenage (3.0), and they are nearly  the same price as they were at Burton (2.1), and Northampton are certainly in much better form than Burton, so deserve much more respect from the market.

Northampton have actually won 3 in 4 at home. They have beaten Leyton Orient, Crawley, and Peterborough, whilst drawing with Cambridge. Charlton may well believe that they are a step up from most of those teams, and, in terms of size of club, they are probably right, but on pitch performances don’t see huge amounts of difference between those teams and Charlton, certainly not in their current form.

The Cobblers have only gone off a bigger price than their current one once all season, a 4.64 shot at home to Bolton. They drifted to that price on that occasion, but that is the only drift that they have suffered in the market at home all season. Indeed, they were backed in from 3.28 to 3.13, a 5% move at home to Peterborough last week. In teams that we would rate similarly to Charlton, Northampton have gone off 2.72 against Mansfield, 3.13 v Peterborough, and 3.03 v Wycombe, all substantially shorter than they are against Charlton at the moment.