Another round of matches kick off in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night when not for the first time the action comes from The Hawthorns as West Bromwich Albion play host to Nottingham Forest in a midlands battle.
West Brom have seen the top two fly clear in the table over the last couple of weeks and they need a win here to keep hold of their coattails. Forest are locked in the centre of the table where it is most congested so they need a win too, which should make for a good match.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels. The build-up to the contest begins at 7.30pm with kick off at The Hawthorns coming at 8pm.
West Bromwich Albion
Those who follow the Championship strongly will have seen a lot of West Brom this season because they seem to be a permanent fixture in this Friday night slot and they get it again. They go into this match off the back of three matches without a win and just one win in their last five outings. I’ve mentioned before when previewing West Brom matches that lengthy periods without a win will have big consequences because they adopt a style that supporters don’t always appreciate and if it isn’t bringing results with it pressure builds very quickly.
The Baggies have only scored two goals in those five matches, although to be fair to Valerien Ismael that isn’t all on his direct style of play because they have created a whole host of chances in that time. The positive for West Brom going into this match is that they are still unbeaten at The Hawthorns. The longer that record can remain in place the more patient supporters will be in the main but I think it is fair to say West Brom could do with winning this for more reasons than one.
Nottingham Forest
This has been a tale of two halves for Nottingham Forest this season. There was the initial part of it under Chris Hughton in which they were truly terrible and then the second part of it under Steve Cooper where they have been much improved. While they have only lost one match under the former Swansea City boss, things have stagnated a little recently and they have only won one of their last five matches which isn’t ideal.
Forest are one of the better away sides in the division which will be a confidence boost for them heading into this match. Only the top two in the table have picked up more points than the Tricky Trees on their travels. One issue for Forest here could be that they had to play 30 minutes with 10 men on Tuesday night so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they tire in the latter stages of this match. If they can find a win here they will go up into the top 10 ahead of the remainder of the fixtures this weekend.
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Team News
Valerien Ismael has given no indications that he has any injury problems after the goalless draw with Blackpool in midweek. Jake Livermore continues to serve his suspension while Dara O’Shea remains on the sidelines.
Nottingham Forest will be without Jack Colback for this match after he was dismissed for two yellow cards in midweek. That opens up an issue for Steve Cooper at left-back but Gaetan Bong came off the bench against Luton and could start here.
Betting
This is a tricky match to bet on because West Brom aren’t in great form but they are hard to beat on home soil while Forest don’t lose many on their travels. Ordinarily you would suggest that is a good recipe for a drawn game but this is the third match in six days for both these teams with one having toured the country this week and the other having played half an hour with 10 men on Tuesday night. These aren’t the circumstances where logic can necessarily be applied or relied on.
I saw Forest with my own eyes on Tuesday night though and the two things which were immediately apparent to me were that they struggled against pace and some of their tackling techniques left plenty to be desired. They picked up five yellow cards in that contest and I wouldn’t be surprised if more come their way here against a West Brom side who are physical and you need to match that to have a chance. When you have ordinary tackling techniques that is a recipe for disaster. The physical nature of this West Brom side means they are going to pick up bookings regularly and Gavin Ward wouldn’t be the first ref to get fed up with how long the long throws take to come in so timewasting cards aren’t without a chance here. Mr Ward has refereed Forest once this season and showed them two yellows and a red. I think we’ll see more than 35 booking points given how these two setup.
Tips
Back Over 35.5 booking points for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
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