Aston Villa v West Brom: High-flying Baggies to come unstuck
Published:West Brom have made a magnificent start to the Premier League season, taking 10 points out of a possible 15 to position them in 4th.
However, mid-table sides who fly out the traps early don’t tend to keep up their initial pace, and Aston Villa are priced at 7/5 to bring the visitors crashing back down to earth with a defeat.
During mid-week Villa stunned the champions Manchester City by knocking them out of the Capital One Cup after an enthralling 4-2 victory away from home.
And confidence is sure to be high in Paul Lambert’s squad, who will be hoping to add to just one league win this campaign against Swansea.
West Brom come into the derby after being eliminated from the League Cup at home to Liverpool, although they did beat the Reds in the league on the opening day of the season.
Steve Clarke’s side have since chalked up three points against both Reading and Everton, whilst drawing with Tottenham and losing on only one occasion, to Fulham.
If the West Midlands side are to continue their good league form then odds of 2/1 could prove profitable, while the draw stands at 11/5.
Looking back through the two club’s Premier League record does point to a home win though, one that Aston Villa will hope kick-starts their season.
During the Birmingham rivals’ 12 league clashes in the top flight, just twice have West Brom stolen the bragging rights against Villa.
Although it must be noted that West Brom have won two of the last three, including the corresponding fixture last season.
Aston Villa have the better head-to-head record with five wins, but five draws also suggests a stalemate wouldn’t be out of the norm.
The most familiar scoreline has been 2-1, with over half their Premier League matches ending in that result.
With Villa in good form and buoyant spirits after beating Man City, a win by that scoreline against attacking West Brom is great value at 9/1.
In the goalscoring stakes, England striker Darren Bent can be backed to get amongst the goals by striking first at 5/1, with team-mates Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke both a touch back at 6/1.
For the away side, Irishman Shane Long could be worth his price of 2/1 to score anytime, as fellow striker Peter Odemwingie is missing from the travelling squad with suspension.
That could also pave the way for Romulu Lukaku to have an impact upon the scoresheet, and the Belgian is an intriguing 7/1 bet to score last having had the final say against both Liverpool and Reading.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
