Forest look underrated for key promotion battle at Aston Villa

Sky Sports red button, 7.45pm Wednesday

Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa are on the up under Dean Smith but it is questionable whether they deserve to be odds-on favourites to overcome Nottingham Forest in a key promotion battle.

Both teams have invested heavily in their quest to reach the Premier League but Forest have three more points on the board and look underrated by the match markets.

Recommendation
Nottingham Forest +0.5 on Asian handicap
2pts 68-67 188Bet

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Key stat
Nottingham Forest have lost one of their last 12 Sky Bet Championship fixtures.

Ipswich v Bristol City

Only victories are going to give Ipswich hope of staying in the Sky Bet Championship but a point looks the best they can hope for from their clash with Bristol City at Portman Road.

Paul Lambert's side are desperately short of quality but they are working their socks off and can match the Robins, who have lost four matches in succession.

Recommendation
Draw
1pt 23-10 bet365, 188Bet

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Key stat
Ipswich have drawn seven of their last ten home league games.

Millwall v Birmingham

It can take weeks to shake off the disappointment of a loss to a bitter rival but Birmingham have had just three days to dust themselves down following their 4-2 loss at Aston Villa.

The Blues competed well at Villa Park without any reward and another tough task awaits against a Millwall side desperate to pull away from the Sky Bet Championship bottom three.

Recommendation
Millwall
1pt 6-5 general

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Key stat
Birmingham have lost 11 of their last 17 away fixtures.

Swansea v West Brom

Successive wins have lifted West Brom back into Sky Bet Championship automatic promotion contention but they continue to leak goals and their poor defending could be exposed by Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea were well below par in Saturday's 4-1 loss at home to Norwich but a strong performance against Albion can reignite their promotion push.

Recommendation
Swansea
1pt 9-5 bet365, Betfred

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Key stat
West Brom have not kept a clean sheet in their last ten matches.

Wigan v Blackburn

Blackburn suffered a dismal derby defeat at the weekend, going down 4-1 at Preston, but they can repay their supporters by beating Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Scoring goals is not a problem for Rovers and one may be enough against the Latics, who are struggling to find the net.

Recommendation
Blackburn draw no bet
2pts 6-5 general

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