This trip to Bristol City is being billed as a clash between two early title challengers (although hopefully not for us, that could change).
Anyway, here are some tips for the game, odds taken from SkyBet as always.
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
Here’s the thing about Bristol City this season, they create a lot of high quality chances and have done since the start of the season.
Their starting XI may not look impressive on paper (save for Flint and Reid) compared to the luxury of talent we have available, but they haven’t lost since November.
That unbeaten run includes wins over Sheffield United and Boro as well as their League Cup win over Man United.
Only one team has scored 3 goals against us this season, Bristol City.
They also are the team who have the highest xG total against us this season (2.1), add in the fact we had problems from set pieces earlier in the season and they have Aden Flint in their ranks, it becomes slightly worrying.
I still have complete faith in our back 3, this is more about giving them the respect they deserve.
They’re carving out chances and they managed that at Molineux too, it’s difficult to imagine a game where they don’t score tomorrow.
Given that we have the best attack in the league there’s also very little chance we don’t score, they set up with a conventional 4 at the back so the battle on the wings will be crucial.
If their Left and Right midfielders don’t track back then Douglas and Doherty will create an overload on the wings, if that happens enough times we’ll have no trouble scoring.
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals is 11/8.
Anytime goalscorer tips
I’m going to swerve the usual suspects here and focus on someone who is due a goal and who also has previous form at this ground.
It seems odd to tip a Right Wing-Back to score, but it’s well overdue.
We all know how good Doherty is going forward, and Cavaleiro drifting inside so often means there’s often a huge amount of space down the right for Doc to fill.
All he needs is to be played in at the right time and he’ll be more than capable of finishing off a move. It’s a longshot, but I think Doherty has another goal coming after his strike against Reading, he’s 7/1 to find the back of the net.
If you want something a bit more realistic then SkyBet are offering 5/1 on Reid and Bonatini to score.
Since moving to striker this season Bobby Reid has become one the league’s most prolific goalscorers, with 11 goals and an average of a goal every 193 minutes.
Some Bristol City fans believe he’s the best player outside the Premier League (don’t delude yourselves) that being said, he’s definitely talented and if we do concede you can bet he’ll be central to it.
With regards to Bonatini I think the front 3 appeared to have gotten over their minor blip, we had an xG of exactly 2 against Millwall which is our highest total since the 5-1 win over Bolton (3.4).
This suggests that we’re starting to create decent quality chances again, Bonatini should directly benefit from this.
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