Nottingham Forest and Leeds soon to have more in common than Clough

The fact that both clubs can count Brian Clough among their former managers will not be all that Leeds and Nottingham Forest will have in common after the Boxing Day round of Championship fixtures, as the pair are also set to draw their respective televised outings.

Leeds head to free-falling Blackpool in the teatime kick-off, with Forest hosting QPR in front of the Sky Sports cameras in the evening showdown.

Blackpool v Leeds

Four straight league defeats make Blackpool one of the most out of form teams in the Championship, but it should be mentioned that three of these losses have come against Burnley, QPR and Derby, who currently occupy top-four spots in the standings.

Meanwhile, Leeds are unbeaten in four, but three of these have been at home and all have come against opposition currently situated below Blackpool in the table.

Therefore, although Leeds may look the value option at 7/4 in the match betting offerings, especially as slight underdogs, it is the draw that has greater appeal at 11/5.

Blackpool have only conceded nine goals across their 10 home games this season and keeping things tight may prove critical again, given they have only scored twice across their last four outings.

Three clean sheets in four have also been a feature of Leeds’ recent form and the 0-0 draw, priced at 9/1, should have some admirers.

Blackpool are marginal favourites at 8/5 and have won this fixture at Bloomfield Road in each of the last two Championship seasons.

Nottingham Forest v QPR

Five home games without a win is hardly the form of a club with serious aspirations of promotion to the Premier League, but at least three clean sheets in succession have kept Nottingham Forest on the cusp of the Championship play-off places.

While Forest have been struggling to take maximum points at home, QPR have had similar difficulty on the road, winning just one of their last six away from Loftus Road.