Leicester vs West Brom betting tips, BuildABet, best bets and preview
Football betting tips: Championship
1.5pts Darnell Furlong 1+ shots at 11/8 (bet365)
1pt Darnell Furlong 1+ shots on target at 9/2 (bet365)
0.5pts Darnell Furlong to score anytime at 18/1 (Sky Bet)
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Having looked like Sky Bet Championship champions-elect for 80% of the season, Leicester City have been doing their best to throw it all away over the past two months and have slipped to second place, behind new leaders Ipswich.
Six defeats in 10 matches is not title-winning material - but the Foxes' fantastic form prior to that has kept their destiny in their own hands: if they win their final four games, they will be promoted back to the Premier League as champions.
In fairness, most of their woes have come on the road - they have won their past two at the King Power, including a vital come-from-behind victory over in-form Norwich.
But Saturday's visitors West Bromwich Albion have promotion aspirations of their own - Carlos Corberan's side are almost assured of a play-off spot, seven points clear of seventh-placed Hull City, albeit having played a game more.
What are the best bets?
Leicester's aforementioned poor run, combined with West Brom's solid form - one defeat in 11 games, unbeaten in seven on the road - makes it virtually impossible to get behind the short-priced hosts (best-priced 3/5 at time of writing).
This is a bit of a free shot for the Baggies. They have a significantly superior goal difference to the sides chasing them in the play-off race and Corberan's side also have two very winnable games against Sheffield Wednesday and Preston to come.
There's one Albion player in particular I want to get onside here and that is marauding right-back DARNELL FURLONG, who is enjoying quite the season at The Hawthorns.
He's been a virtual ever-present for the Baggies in the Championship and loves to get forward - his tally of 34 attempts in 43 appearances is the fifth most in the squad so the 11/8 Bet365 offer on him to have 1+ SHOTS here looks well overpriced.
OK, there's the quality of opposition to take into account but Leicester have been wobbling badly recently and no full-back in the Championship has attempted more shots this season than the attacking-minded Furlong.
Indeed, I'm going all-in on the 28-year-old, given he's also a tasty 9/2 for 1+ SHOTS ON TARGET and 18/1 TO SCORE ANYTIME.
While they are slightly more speculative than the main bet, they still provide significant value given he's tested the goalkeeper 11 times this season, once every four games on average, and scored on four occasions.
Leicester are vulnerable at set-pieces - more than a third of the goals they have conceded have come via such routes - and Furlong is a set-play threat with his head as well as regularly ghosting in at the far post to meet deep crosses.
BuildABet @47/1
- Furlong 1+ shots on target
- Ricardo Pereira to be shown a card
- 8+ Leicester corners
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Leicester have been racking up the corner count, such is the unexpected urgency of their situation, earning 41 flag-kicks in their past four matches, while full-back Ricardo Pereira has eight bookings this season and averages 2.7 tackles per game.
Team news
Leicester boss Enzo Maresca is still without defender Harry Souttar but should have winger Kasey McAteer back available after several weeks out with a hamstring problem.
After back-to-back away defeats, firing blanks in each, Maresca could shake up his forward line with Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho and Tom Cannon all options to start up front.
West Brom will be missing striker Brandon Thomas-Asante, who will be serving a one-match suspension for his red card in the home loss to Sunderland last time out. Daryl Dike (Achilles) and Jayson Molumby (foot) remain out injured.
Predicted line-ups
Leicester: Hermansen; Justin, Coady, Vestergaard, Pereira; Winks, Ndidi; Mavididi, Dewsbury-Hall, Fatawu; Vardy.
West Brom: Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Bartley, Townsend; Chalobah, Mowatt; Diangana, Fellows, Johnston; Maja.
Match facts
- Leicester City have won each of their last four league games against West Bromwich Albion, a run which has seen the Foxes score 2+ goals in each of those matches.
- West Bromwich Albion have lost just one of their last nine away league games against Leicester City (W5 D3), although that sole defeat did come on their last visit to the King Power Stadium during a 3-0 Premier League loss in April 2021.
- Leicester City have failed to win just five of their 20 home league games this season (D1 L4), a run which has seen the Foxes score 40 goals in total and fail to score on just two occasions.
- West Bromwich Albion are unbeaten across their last seven away league games (W2 D5); the Baggies haven’t enjoyed a longer such streak since a run of eight matches between October 2019 and January 2020.
- Leicester City have kept eight clean sheets on home soil in the Championship this season, the Foxes' most in a league season since the 2015-16 campaign (9) when they lifted the Premier League trophy for the first and only time to date.
Odds correct at 1200 BST (18/04/24)
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