Nottingham Forest vs Swansea – Boyd can hand hosts initiative

Nottingham Forest may have a terrible play-off record, but 13/10 seems a fine price in the Championship odds that they take the early initiative in the first leg of their semi-final with Swansea.

Match Odds

Forest head into the play-offs on a four-game winning run and have scored an impressive 14 goals in this sequence.

Meanwhile, no team in the Championship achieved more points across the final six matches of the regular season than Billy Davies’ side.

However, historically the play-offs have not been kind to Nottingham Forest as they have never reached the final on the three previous occasions that they have been involved in the four-team knockout challenge.

Swansea’s odds are 11/5 to beat Nottingham Forest and take a big step towards playing in the top flight for the first time since 1983.

The Swans are also in good form with three successive victories and this helped them finish the season in third spot, which has sent up more play-off winners to the Premier League than any other finishing position.

Only once in the last ten meetings between the pair has the away team triumphed and therefore Swansea would likely be happy with a draw from their away leg, which is priced at 11/5.

First Goalscorer

If Forest are to secure victory then they may be relying on Kris Boyd continuing his recent scoring streak.

Boyd has proved a solid acquisition on loan from Middlesbrough with six goals in his last eight games and is 5/1 to open the scoring against Swansea.

But if he is to do so he will have to break down a defence that has let in just 42 goals and kept 21 clean sheets this season, which was the second highest across the Championship.

Swansea have also shut out the opposition in three of their last four games.

A £30 stake on Nottingham Forest and Swansea drawing 0-0 would return £195. New customers can sign up here for a free £30 bet.