FOOTBALL LEAGUE expert Ben Levene (@benlevene96) shares his verdict from Tuesday night's live Championship fixture between Nottingham Forest and West Brom.
Nottingham Forest v West Brom | Tuesday 7th August 2018, 19:45 | Sky Sports
A new-look Nottingham Forest came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw away at Bristol City on Saturday.
Aitor Karanka is still looking to boost his squad. Over the last day or two Sam Byram and Sheyi Ojo have been linked with moves to the City Ground.
Forest ended last season with a W3-D3-L1 home-record. Under Karanka they drew six of their last 15 games at the end of the last campaign. Interestingly, five of those draws were 0-0, while the other was 1-1. On the opening day of course, the Tricky Trees were held 1-1.
Baggies off to a slow start
West Brom struggled in their first game down a tier as they lost to Phil Parkinson’s Bolton. Darren Moore’s task is not easy with so much uncertainty around his squad.
Earlier on Monday, Salomon Rondon departed to Newcastle, with Dwight Gayle moving to the Baggies. Jay Rodriguez is a target for Burnley but Moore opted to start him at the weekend and round-ups of that game indicate he was off the pace.
It’s unlikely Gayle is thrown straight in, so West Brom could be workmanlike up top with Hal Robson-Kanu.
Hegazi can cause havoc
It was loanee Harvey Barnes who produced for WBA with a stunning long-range strike. However, on another day Ahmed Hegazi could have stolen the headlines.
The Egyptian defender had three good chances from set-pieces, including an effort against the crossbar. Chris Brunt targeted him from dead-ball situations.
Bristol City’s opener against Forest at the weekend come via a header from a cross so if Hegazi was a threat against set-piece specialists Bolton, who boast defensive-duo David Wheater and Mark Beevers (both in excess of 6”3), then there’s no reason he won’t cause trouble against the hosts here.
It’s 28/1 (Bet365) Hegazi scores the opening goal. We get paid a healthy 1/3 of the odds if he bags anytime.
West Brom accumulated 10 corners at the weekend and they also attempted more crosses than any other side at the weekend. Moreover, the likes of Matt Phillips, Barnes and Oli Burke take on players in wide-areas, so the Baggies can notch-up a fair few corners.
The draw a runner
Regading the result, both sides are better defensively than they are going forwards, and so the draw is a runner here.
The game to end level with Under 2.5 Goals is 56/19 (188BET). That indicates just a slim 25% chance.
Best Bets
Nottingham Forest v West Brom – Draw and Under 2.5 Goals (56/19 188BET)
Nottingham Forest v West Brom – Ahmed Hegazi to score first (28/1 each-way Bet365)
