Football – England – Championship
Saturday 27th September 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Nottingham Forest have once again started well in the early weeks of this season’s Championship but manager Stuart Pearce will be ensuring his troops don’t fall away in dramatic fashion as they did last term, resulting in the sacking of former manager Billy Davies.
Pearce looks to have made the signing of this season though with the acquisition of former Peterborough United striker Britt Assombalonga who has netted 8 goals so far this term and sits top of the goalscoring charts in the English second tier. Assombalonga has contributed to Forest’s success so far as they’ve swept aside Blackpool, Bournemouth, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and most recently Fulham (which was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and cost Magath his job at Craven Cottage).
Nottingham Forest remain unbeaten, and with an overall home record of 3-1-0 12/4 going into today’s encounter, I daresay they’ll be keen to retain their current status as league leaders at the City Ground this afternoon.
Visitors Brighton enter a phase of consolidation and rebuilding following the departure of former managers Gus Poyet and Oscar Garcia in a relatively short amount of time, and under Sami Hyypia, the jury is still out as to whether he can replicate Brighton’s former achievements of reaching the play-offs this time around.
The Seagulls find themselves in the bottom half of the Championship following just two wins from their first eight matches, and the pressure must be starting to mount on the south coast for an improvement, sooner rather than later I fancy.
Brighton’s two league wins so far came against Leeds United at Elland Road who at the time (and maybe still, who knows??) were all over the place under owner Cellino’s influence, and a home win over Bolton Wanderers who have won just one match in the Championship so far.
Brighton’s overall away record ahead of today stands at 1-0-3 4/6 and they’ve lost at Birmingham City, Brentford and Ipswich Town to date.
Nottingham Forest are positively bouncing right now, and with Assombalonga up front, they can beat anyone who cares to visit at the City Ground – I’ll back Forest for the points today in what could be a 2-1 win.
Pick: Nottingham Forest straight win @ 2.10 Bet Victor
