Championship: Norwich City-Brentford
Previews of the last two Brentford games can be read under the "good luck" sign off. The win over Brighton was hard fought, but in truth, they could/should once again have scored another couple of goals and things have not been falling for them in front of goal, they missed 2-3 absolute sitters , worst of which was Jon Toral rounding the keeper and then getting the ball caught inbetween his feet, with a open goal about a metre in front of him ! On the plus side, Andre Gray whom we did well following earlier in the season, scored his first goal in four, after seven in eight previously and having missed a host over those interim three games and like most strikers being streaky once he gets one, we can make a case for him being due again today. At the back, goalkeeper David Button is looking immense right now, playing with huge confidence and just doesn't look like letting one in. Brighton gave the form a boost by getting back to winning ways immediately and beating highflying Ipswich Town in midweek.
This is a similar game to last week, in that City are a big club at this level, playing in front of packed houses each week, albeit with a stronger squad than the Seagulls, but not by much, Brighton are much better than the league table suggests and a top half finish probably awaits them. Once again, the Bees have been underestimated by the oddsmakers and I see no reason to desert them and having beaten the Seagulls and Bluebirds on the road recently, Canaries will be another one for the ornithologistic visitors ! The hosts are one of just two teams to have won at Griffin Park this season, it was a comprehensive 3-0 win, but Brentford were on top for significant periods and after falling behind were denied a clear penalty which everyone in the stadium saw apart from the referee, City scored the second whilst the Bees were still protesting, which of course is unprofessional, but by then it was game over. That was one of several decisions which went against them that night, they are not a team to overly focus on things like that, but the manager, who is always very gracious to the opposition and several players have mentioned it recently, it obviously still rankles and I do suspect they feel that there is a score to settle. Since that day the Bees have earned eight more points than City and have won as many road games as the hosts have at home, the Canaries have been scoring freely recently, with a whopping 14 goals in their last three home starts and are unbeaten under new boss Alex Neil. However, the honeymoon period is over for him now and coming from the SPL, he has no experience of English football for more than a decade and the Championship is a division where a little of that goes a very long way. Also, they have conceded in 12 of 13 home starts, two or more in three of their last five, can be far too gung ho at times and Brentford have the pace to exploit this on the break.
The Bees seem very likely to score, they have done so in their last 14 starts and City "always" concede at home, the visitors also have increased offensive options with young striker Christopher Long having signed a loan deal from Everton and he will almost certainly be used off the bench this afternoon. Cardiff City, Brighton and Reading have all scored two here revently and circa 3.0-3.20 for Brentford to do likewise, seems too big (0.75 units), especially with City and the Royals being very poor travellers and the trio only posting the same number of away wins between them as the Bees. For my "official " selection, it just has to be 1.5 units Brentford +0.75 ball 2.09 asian line/Sportmarket.
Previews of the last two Brentford games can be read under the "good luck" sign off. The win over Brighton was hard fought, but in truth, they could/should once again have scored another couple of goals and things have not been falling for them in front of goal, they missed 2-3 absolute sitters , worst of which was Jon Toral rounding the keeper and then getting the ball caught inbetween his feet, with a open goal about a metre in front of him ! On the plus side, Andre Gray whom we did well following earlier in the season, scored his first goal in four, after seven in eight previously and having missed a host over those interim three games and like most strikers being streaky once he gets one, we can make a case for him being due again today. At the back, goalkeeper David Button is looking immense right now, playing with huge confidence and just doesn't look like letting one in. Brighton gave the form a boost by getting back to winning ways immediately and beating highflying Ipswich Town in midweek.
This is a similar game to last week, in that City are a big club at this level, playing in front of packed houses each week, albeit with a stronger squad than the Seagulls, but not by much, Brighton are much better than the league table suggests and a top half finish probably awaits them. Once again, the Bees have been underestimated by the oddsmakers and I see no reason to desert them and having beaten the Seagulls and Bluebirds on the road recently, Canaries will be another one for the ornithologistic visitors ! The hosts are one of just two teams to have won at Griffin Park this season, it was a comprehensive 3-0 win, but Brentford were on top for significant periods and after falling behind were denied a clear penalty which everyone in the stadium saw apart from the referee, City scored the second whilst the Bees were still protesting, which of course is unprofessional, but by then it was game over. That was one of several decisions which went against them that night, they are not a team to overly focus on things like that, but the manager, who is always very gracious to the opposition and several players have mentioned it recently, it obviously still rankles and I do suspect they feel that there is a score to settle. Since that day the Bees have earned eight more points than City and have won as many road games as the hosts have at home, the Canaries have been scoring freely recently, with a whopping 14 goals in their last three home starts and are unbeaten under new boss Alex Neil. However, the honeymoon period is over for him now and coming from the SPL, he has no experience of English football for more than a decade and the Championship is a division where a little of that goes a very long way. Also, they have conceded in 12 of 13 home starts, two or more in three of their last five, can be far too gung ho at times and Brentford have the pace to exploit this on the break.
The Bees seem very likely to score, they have done so in their last 14 starts and City "always" concede at home, the visitors also have increased offensive options with young striker Christopher Long having signed a loan deal from Everton and he will almost certainly be used off the bench this afternoon. Cardiff City, Brighton and Reading have all scored two here revently and circa 3.0-3.20 for Brentford to do likewise, seems too big (0.75 units), especially with City and the Royals being very poor travellers and the trio only posting the same number of away wins between them as the Bees. For my "official " selection, it just has to be 1.5 units Brentford +0.75 ball 2.09 asian line/Sportmarket.
