Eng. Championship
2013-01-26 - Nottingham Forest vs Watford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 26 January 2013 - Kick Off 3pm
Nottingham Forest
The owners of Nottingham Forest are under some amount of pressure as their decision to sack Sean O'Driscoll and replace him with Alex McLeish is being highlighted. It was said that this would give them their best chance of earning promotion, so failing to make the Play Offs will upset the fans considering that was where it looked like Forest would end up under O'Driscoll.
The side have dropped down to 10th in the Championship with recent results not going their way, but they are on 41 points which leaves them just 5 behind Watford in the final Play Off place. Forest have a 7-4-3 record at the City Ground this season, scoring 21 goals and conceding 16 in those games.
Since the firing of O'Driscoll following a 4-2 win over Leeds United here, Nottingham Forest have won 1 of 5 games in all competitions which included a shock 2-3 loss in the FA Cup Third Round against Oldham Athletic. There are signs that Forest could be turning around their form as they have picked up 4 points from their last 2 games, the last coming from a derby draw at Derby County last weekend. The side have won 3 of their last 5 at home and only fallen to defeat once in that run.
Watford
Arguably the biggest surprise in the Championship this season, Watford are still in a very good position in the League table with a chance to challenge for an automatic promotion spot. Gianfranco Zola deserves a lot of credit for piecing this side together with the huge number of new signings that were brought in on-loan last Summer and it is no surprise that Zola is being linked with bigger posts like at his old club Chelsea.
Watford are 6th in the Championship table having earned 46 points so far this season and that means they are just 4 short of an automatic promotion place held by Leicester City. They have a 7-2-4 away record so far this season, scoring 29 goals and conceding 22 which means no team has scored more on their travels and no team has won more away games.
They have been in very good form at the moment, with Watford winning 4 of their last 5 games in the Championship, while a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in the FA Cup won't be a big disappointment. Watford are actually unbeaten in their last 6 away games in the Championship, winning 4 of those including back to back wins at Brighton and Middlesbrough.
Head to Head
Watford scored two first half goals to beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Vicarage Road earlier in the season.
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last 2 home games against Watford, although Forest had only won 1 of their previous 7 at home against them before that, including 4 defeats.
Prediction
Both of these sides have been better going forward than they have been defensively in recent games and there is every chance we see goals in this one.
It is hard to separate the teams and find a winner, but I won't be at all surprised if both sides score at least one goal and the 1.83 on at least 3 goals scored looks the call.
The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Watford
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.83
