Tigers can maul sorry Boro

6Apr 2013

England - The Championship

Mike Norman is opposing an out-of-form club who may have given up for the season as today's best bet, while in-form Forest and Wolves are also fancied to do well...

Bolton 2.0 v Wolves 4.1; The Draw 3.7

A clash between two relatively in-form clubs, though at the current prices I believe Wolves are well worth taking a chance on.

I mentioned a month ago - when Wolves were second from bottom - that I strongly fancied Dean Saunders' men to avoid relegation purely and simply because they were scoring goals regularly. And now they've turned those goals into match-winning performances. Six scored in their last two games to be precise to record wins over top-half clubs Middlesbrough and Birmingham, and it's four wins in five games for the Midlands club.

Bolton have lost two of their last three but at the Reebok Stadium they've been in terrific form... or so it seems. They've won six on the bounce in front of their own fans, but the last four of those wins were virtue of a 1-0 scoreline. I sense The Trotters will need to score more than one to get the better of Wolves today, and I'm not convinced they'll do it.

Recommended Bet: Back Wolves to win @ 4.1

Hull 1.83 v Middlesbrough 5.1; The Draw 3.75

The term 'wheels have fallen off' has never been so apt when you talk about it in connection with Middlesbrough.

When Tony Mowbray's men beat Sheffield Wednesday in November they went top of the Championship, and even after they beat Blackpool at the end of 2012 they were still in the top three. But 15 games later, the Teesside club have recorded just two wins and two draws; the eight points taken from a possible 45 is easily the worst in the division, bottom-of-the-table form in other words.

Away from home Boro have been woeful, just a solitary point taken - thanks to a 0-0 draw at Burnley - from their last nine games. Hull have lost their last two at home (albeit against promotion-chasing Watford and Nottm Forest) but they remain second in the table and ought to win today.

Prior to those two home defeats Steve Bruce's men were in great form on home soil, winning four on the spin against sides who were in decent form at the time. Middlesbrough aren't in decent form, far from it. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking Boro have already written this season off and are preparing for next season. As a fan of the club, I know I have.

Nottm Forest 1.95 v Blackpool 4.3; The Draw 3.7

Forest are hanging on to their unbeaten run by the skin of their teeth. Injury time goals against both Brighton and Burnley over Easter means it's nine games without defeat since Billy Davies took charge and their play-off hopes remain firmly in tact.

Those last minute levellers prove that Forest have something about them too. In fact, in their last eight games they have now scored seven times from 82 minutes onwards, and four of those came in the 90th minute. In other words, they refuse to be beaten, they are in good form, and they are scoring goals. Which is more than can be said for Blackpool.

True, The Tangerines were unbeaten over Easter, but they've been out-of-form recently which can be put down to the fact that they don't score often enough. Paul Ince's men have scored just one first half goal in their last 20 matches, and they haven't scored more than one goal in a game for nearly two months (nine games).

If Forest can repeat the goals they've been scoring since King Billy returned, they should win this game and keep their end-of-season momentum going.

Recommended Bet: Back Nottm Forest to win @ 1.95