TV selections confirmed for January and February...
The latest EFL fixtures chosen for live Sky Sports broadcast have been announced, with eleven more matches taking place across January and February 2019 in the Sky Bet Championship.
The promotion race takes centre stage with the current top five all in action, including league leaders Norwich City. The Canaries, sitting just one point clear of Leeds United, welcome Garry Monk’s Birmingham City to Carrow Road in the Friday Night Football offering on 18 January in a 19:45pm kick-off.
Swansea City host Sheffield United the following day in a 17:30pm kick-off, before Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion round off what is shaping to be a fantastic weekend of EFL action in a fixture potentially pivotal at both ends of the table. That match gets underway at 20:00pm on Monday 21 January.
Derby County travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End on Friday 1 February, before the Championship’s top two collide. Attention turns to Elland Road as Leeds host Daniel Farke’s Norwich City side in a 17:30pm kick-off on Saturday 2 February.
Three fixtures in as many days continues the latest line-up, with Aston Villa facing Sheffield United and Stoke City welcoming West Brom on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 February, respectively, before a mouth-watering local derby on Sunday 10 February.
Norwich City welcome Ipswich Town to Carrow Road in a fixture that will see Tractor Boys manager Paul Lambert face off against his former side. During a three-year spell at the Canaries between 2009 and 2012, Lambert took charge of two East-Anglian derbies, but will be in the opposition dugout this time around.
Also included in the next selection of fixtures is Middlesbrough’s trip to Sheffield United on Wednesday 13 February, 2019. This game will be broadcast simultaneously on Sky Sports alongside another Sky Bet Championship fixture (on different channels). It’s as a result of a new co-exclusive arrangement that was announced last month as part of the EFL’s new £595 million five year domestic broadcasting deal.
Up to eight midweek games will be available on this basis with EFL Clubs also able to stream any of the co-exclusive matches live on their DTC offerings. The co-exclusive games are available from this season on a pro-rata basis.
The full list of games selected for live coverage are as follows:
Friday 18 January Norwich City v Birmingham City 19.45pm
Saturday 19 January Swansea City v Sheffield United 17.30pm
Monday 21 January Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion 20.00pm
Friday 1 February Preston North End v Derby County 19.45pm
Saturday 2 February Leeds United v Norwich City 17.30pm
Friday 8 February Aston Villa v Sheffield United 19.45pm
Saturday 9 February Stoke City v West Bromwich Albion 17.30pm
Sunday 10 February Norwich City v Ipswich Town 12.00pm
Tuesday 12 February West Bromwich Albion v Nottingham Forest 20.00pm
Wednesday 13 February Brentford v Aston Villa 19.45pm
Wednesday 13 February Sheffield United v Middlesbrough 19.45pm*
*Co-exclusive fixture available to stream on Club DTC offerings