West Brom v Wolves predictions: Baggies' Pereira taken to strike first in derby

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for West Brom v Wolves in the Premier League on Monday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Premier League, 6pm Monday

Best bet

M Pereira first scorer
1pt e-w 7-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Team news

West Brom
Robert Snodgrass could be fit. Branislav Ivanovic and Kieran Gibbs are out.

Wolves
Pedro Neto, Raul Jimenez, Fernando Marcal and Jonny Otto are still crocked. Joao Moutinho should be fit.

Match preview

Wolves were bullied into submission by Burnley last week and West Brom, their nearest and not so dearest rivals, would love nothing more than to do exactly the same at the Hawthorns on Monday night.

After all, it isn't as though it hasn't happened before.

Cast your mind back to the early days of Big Sam’s reign and about the only thing he had to celebrate for a month or so was a 3-2 win at Molineux, where his much-revered direct approach worked wonders.

Wolves have been out of sorts for a while and if they’ve got a soft underbelly, Allardyce will certainly look to exploit it.

If Nuno can come up with a gameplan to resist their no-nonsense opponents then Wolves have to look a decent price. They are 16 points superior to their rivals and the trip to the Hawthorns will be far less hostile for the visitors than it would be in a more usual season.

It’s hard to imagine Willy Boly, Conor Coady and Daniel Podence being as poor again as they were last week in that dismantling by Sean Dyche’s Clarets.

And in any case, the Baggies have won only five times all season and can still produce their own horror shows, such as the individual blunders from Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley which cost them a vital victory against Aston Villa.

With all that in mind, this looks a tricky game to decipher. Those who believe form is temporary and class is permanent would have to favour Wolves, but West Brom showed in the reverse fixture they can exploit them.

So it may be best to focus on the one frontman on either side who is in any kind of form. West Brom’s Matheus Pereira has done his best to give the Baggies a shot at survival with eight goals since the middle of January, and the in-form Brazilian looks a nice price to strike first in the West Midlands derby.

Key stat

Only Sheffield United have scored fewer away goals than Wolves (14) in the Premier League.

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