We have reached the penultimate weekend of the Championship season, almost a full year after it began, and it begins at the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday afternoon when promotion chasing West Bromwich Albion make the trip to face Huddersfield Town.
This is a match that Leeds United fans will be tuning into as if West Bromwich Albion do not win the game the Whites are finally back in the Premier League. That is only the beginning of where the stories lie on what is a huge afternoon of football.
Where to watch
The match is live on the Sky Sports Football channel in its entirety. The build up to the contest begins at 5pm with the match beginning at 5.30pm.
Huddersfield Town
This is the second Friday in succession that the Terriers have been in action and they will be hoping that the outcome this time around is significantly better than it was last week, when they were beaten 2-0 at home by Luton Town. That means that Huddersfield are without a win in four outings and only have one win in their last eight either side of lockdown. That victory came against a very average Birmingham City side so the form of the Yorkshiremen is in question for sure.
Finding the net has been a massive issue for Huddersfield since the restart. If you take the three they scored against Birmingham City out of the equation, they have found the net once in six games, and that was a penalty when they were already 3-0 down and buried against Nottingham Forest. It goes without saying that they need to find a goal threat if they are going to survive as they begin the afternoon just three points above the drop with teams behind them fighting hard.
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West Bromwich Albion
This is just as big a match for the Baggies as it is for their hosts. West Brom are fighting hard to make it back to the Premier League and know if they win their last two matches they will achieve that goal. Should they slip up anywhere though they will open the door to a Brentford team who are on fire and seemingly coming home with a wet sail this season. At this moment in time I dare say the title is of little interest to West Brom fans but a defeat here ends any hopes they have of winning it.
Two draws in their last two outings has stopped this West Brom juggernaut in its tracks. There was an element of a draw being ok in midweek because it came against Fulham and all but ended the Cottagers’ chances of catching them. There is no question that anything but a win here is a huge failure. One piece of comfort for Baggies fans is that no team has more Championship points on their travels this term than Slaven Bilic’s men.
Team News
Huddersfield have reported no fresh injury concerns but they are going to have to come up with a combination that gives them a chance of scoring goals. That might mean a starting berth for Steve Mounie and a different approach.
West Bromwich Albion could be without Kieran Gibbs who has a hamstring issue but other than that Slaven Bilic has no fresh injury concerns. He will need to decide which set of forwards his side go into battle with after a heavy workload.
Betting
I watched Huddersfield Town closely last week and without being too unkind to them they could still be playing now and they wouldn’t have scored. They looked like a poor side and one which doesn’t know what to do in attacking areas and if they don’t get a penalty I don’t really see them scoring. Huddersfield have picked the wrong time to go goal shy and you would think they will need to find the net here because whichever combination of attackers West Brom put out they will carry a real threat.
I like West Brom to win here but we have to put the circumstances into the equation here. This is a big match for both sides so like the contest we saw on Thursday night, I’m expecting it to be tight by its very nature, however the extra quality that West Brom have at the top end of the pitch can lead them to a valuable win. I don’t expect the scoring to be high especially with Huddersfield struggling in front of goal so West Brom to win and under 3.5 goals is the way forward here.
Tips
Back West Brom to win and under 3.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Betway
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