Sheffield Wednesday face D-Day in their Sky Bet Championship relegation battle. Michael Beardmore has a best bet for their Saturday lunchtime clash with Nottingham Forest.
Football betting tips: Sheffield Wednesday v Nottingham Forest
1pt e.w. Josh Windass to score first at 13/2 (Bet 365) (1/3 odds 1-98 places)
Four managers (five, if you count the current stand-in), a points deduction, a points rebate, a relegation battle right from the get-go – oh, and a boss contracting Covid then pneumonia.
It’s been some season for Sheffield Wednesday. And not in a good way.
And it all comes down to two games against teams from the East Midlands – Nottingham Forest, then relegation rivals Derby on the final day.
Win both, the Owls could stay up at the Rams’ expense. Anything else and they are likely to be relegated to the third tier for the third time since the turn of the century.
That, of course, won’t be a bad thing for long-time Sporting Life readers if they backed Tom Carnduff’s ante-post shout at the start of the season on Wednesday to be relegated.
That tip was largely informed by the Owls’ 15-point deduction for financial irregularities, which was later reduced to six on appeal. Without the deduction, they would be virtually safe. Without the reduction, they would be already down.
Assistant Jamie Smith – standing in for the stricken Darren Moore, who succeeded Neil Thompson, Tony Pulis and Garry Monk in the dugout this season – will be a Hillsborough hero forever if they pull off the Great Escape.
Will Sheffield Wednesday be relegated?
It’s a certainty, according to the bookies, with Sky Bet offering 1/16 on them to go down and a half-tempting 7/1 on the Owls to survive (those odds will plummet if they beat Forest, Rotherham fail to beat Blackburn and Derby do not win at Swansea – hardly an implausible combination of events).
That bet is definitely worth a look if you’re not on the ante-post – or as cover if you are. Rotherham are shattered and Derby are in freefall.
Firstly, of course, the Owls must get past Forest, a team with absolutely nothing to play for and that, in a way, makes the outcome of this one even more difficult to forecast.
Wednesday could freeze with so much at stake or gratefully grasp the opportunity in front of them. Forest – no friends of Derby, remember – might not turn up or they might flourish with freedom.
There’s no value on the 6/5 on the hosts – if you think they will win, you really are better off backing the 7/1 on them to stay up. And neither of these sides are good enough to back confidently over 90 minutes.
Josh Windass is Sheffield Wednesday's man in form
Given Wednesday have to win, there should be at least a couple of goals in this one – you can’t imagine it ending in a goalless draw: the Owls have not had one of those since November – so the goalscorer markets are the place to head.
In fairness, it’s an area neither side – two of the five lowest-scoring teams in the Championship – are hugely blessed with talent but there is value in the shape of the most in-form man on the pitch.
Josh Windass’ nine league goals make him the leading marksman in this game and that tally includes six in his past 13, as well as one each in Wednesday’s two most recent matches.
That’s reason enough to back regular starter WINDASS TO SCORE FIRST at 13/2 with Bet365 but he also took over penalty duties to score from the spot in their defeat at Middlesbrough, replacing Barry Bannan, who missed from 12 yards two games earlier.
With Bet365’s 1/3 each-way odds offer, we can take those terms to get just over 43/20 on Windass to score anytime – good value on a man who has unleashed 23 shots in his past five games, especially as the onus will firmly be on the Owls to attack.
Sheffield Wednesday v Nottingham Forest best bet and score prediction
- Josh Windass e.w. to score first at 13/2 (Bet 365) (1/3 odds 1-98 places)
Score prediction: Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Sky Bet odds: 15/2)
Odds correct at 2145 BST (28/04/21)
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