Eng. Championship
2012-03-27 - Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Tuesday 27 March 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Leicester City
At the beginning of the season, Leicester City were considered the favourites, along with West Ham United, to get promoted to the Premier League. They struggled to live up to expectations and decided to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson with Nigel Pearson and are now in with a chance of making it into the Play Offs with a late burst of form.
The Foxes are 11th in the Championship this season and have picked up 55 points so far this season. This game represents one they hold in hand over those teams above them in the League, and they could move up to 9th in the table with a win. They have a 10-4-5 record at the KP Stadium this season, scoring 31 goals and conceding 20, and a win could see them within touching distance of the Play Off positions.
Leicester are unbeaten in their last 3 League games following back to back defeats against Bristol City and Reading and they now recognise that they cannot afford too many more mistakes. The team have been playing very well at home in recent games, winning their last 4 here in the League and 6 of their last 7 in all competitions. They have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 7 at home.
Neil Danns is suspended, while Paul Gallagher is out injured. Richie Wellens is in the squad and could come into the starting XI.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest were in a desperate state a few weeks ago as they were firmly entrenched in the relegation dogfight, but they have picked up some form of late and are heading the right way up the table. Steve Cotterill will not need telling that there is some work to be done, but this game in hand could be crucial to their chances of remaining in the Championship.
Forest are 20th in the Championship which leaves them 2 places and 4 points clear of Coventry City in the table. Most of their relegation rivals have 7 games left to play this season, but Forest have this one as an extra game in their locker. Forest are 6-2-10 away from home in the League this season, scoring 22 goals and conceding 28.
The team have picked up 14 points from the last 24 available to really give themselves a good chance of staying up this season and had a freak 3-7 win at Leeds United in their last game away from the City Ground. Forest have lost just 1 of their last 4 away games in the Championship since losing 3 games in a row in all competitions on their travels.
Gareth McLeary is expected to be available for this game despite having to be brought off at the weekend. Danny Higginbotham and George Elokobi should both be available after recovering from injuries.
Head to Head
This will be the fourth time Leicester City and Nottingham Forest will be meeting this season- the first two games both ended in draws at the City Ground, while Leicester won the other game 4-0 at home in the FA Cup.
Leicester have won their last 3 home games against Forest in all competitions, improving their record to 5 wins from the last 6 matches at home.
Prediction
Leicester City are not too far away from pushing into the Play Off picture and I think they have been playing with a lot of confidence at home in recent weeks which should give them the edge in this contest.
It is not wise to underestimate a Nottingham Forest side that have been playing well in recent weeks as they continue picking up the points that are pushing them away from the relegation zone, but I think Leicester are freely-scoring at home and they should also be full of confidence.
Leicester won a FA Cup game at home against Forest earlier this season and I think they will be a little too strong again, although I expect the match to be far closes than the 4-0 result we saw on that occasion.
The Pick :
Leicester City 2-1 Nottingham Forest
