Aston Villa face West Brom on Friday night in a game that is a local derby, and one that puts together two ex Premier League clubs. These two are desperate to get back into the Premier League, Villa have now been in the Championship a while, but this is the first season for West Brom back in the second tier.

There is no doubt that both teams have the quality to succeed this season, but so do many other teams and to be promoted you are going to need a huge amount of luck, and you will have to play at your very best for long periods of time. The battle at the top of the Championship is fierce, and only the very best are going to survive. Just like we have seen for many years now, there will be some very good teams fail to gain promotion to the top tier again this season.

The Championship Season so Far

West Brom go into the games this weekend in third place after what has been a very good start for them. They are four points off Leeds in second and five off Norwich who are top of the league, so regardless of what happens this weekend, West Brom cannot break into the top two with a win. One thing they do have the ability to do though is put some pressure on the top two.

West Brom play on Friday night, and you can bet that Norwich and Leeds will both be watching the game. They have the chance to inch closer to them, and put them under a little more pressure going into Saturday’s game and that is what they will want to do. The come into Friday’s game on a good run, with three wins, one draw and one loss from their last five games. They drew against Brentford on Monday, a game they really should have won and they would love to make amends for that here by beating Villa and taking a valuable three points.

Aston Villa are one of many teams on the cusp of the playoff positions and playing on Friday night gives them a big advantage over the other teams around their position. A win for Villa on Friday night will put them in the playoffs, and really ramp up the pressure on those around them. Seven teams are covered by just five points, and that includes all four teams in the playoffs right now, including West Brom, there really is nothing to choose between those at the top, and playing first is an advantage as it adds pressure on the other teams.

Villa have turned things around since appointing Dean Smith as their new boss. Smith is a lifelong Vill fan himself, and knows the pain that the fans are feeling right now by not being in the top flight. They came close last season, losing in the playoff final and although that may have affected them at the start of the season, they are showing no ill signs of that right now.

Is The Championship the Toughest League in the World to get Promoted From?

The Championship has a fantastic reputation all over the world, and it is highly regarded as being one of the best second tier’s anywhere around the globe. What makes this league stand out when compared to others is how difficult it is to get promoted from the league, based on the number of teams who are actually contending for promotion.

When we started this season, almost half of the league were names by many as promotion contenders, and we are now close to the halfway mark in the season and we are still in the same position. 13 points separate top of the table Norwich with 12th placed Stoke, who are the team in the middle right now. A bit closer to the top, just six points separate 1st and 7th, which is just two wins and anyone who goes on a run of wins has a great chance of getting into the playoffs and possibly more.

We have seen Norwich go on a fantastic run recently, and that has taken them to the top of the league, but many others have also been fantastic in recent weeks and those at the top of putting some important wins together. The top eight in the league have lost just seven games from their combined last five, a total of 40 different games. This shows that not only do you need to play well at the top of the league, but you need to be better than that, you need to be near perfect if you want to get promoted from this league. How many other leagues in the world can claim this? There is never a dull moment in the Championship, and if the first half of the season is anything to go by, this could be one of the best and closest fights at the top of the league we have ever seen.

West Brom vs Aston Villa Betting Tips

Aston Villa and West Brom both arrive here in great form and this should be a very good game between them, with their local rivalry adding even more to the game. There is a lot to like about what both have done in recent weeks, but Aston Villa have really come to life since appointing Dean Smith as their manager, they are on a fantastic run right now and there could be even more to come from them in the next few weeks.

If you are looking for a team to follow this month, Aston Villa could be the ones, they recorded a fantastic 3-0 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough last weekend and I am going to back them at a big price to pick up another win here. They play some good football away from home, like we saw last week, and that shouldn’t make too much difference to them as they are on the road again here.

These two are good enough to be involved in the promotion race at the end of the season, and that should set up a great game here. West Brom will want to make amends for their draw against Brentford on Monday, a game they should have won, but they may have to settle for disappointment again here.

I like what Aston Villa have done recently, and they now appear to be using the disappointment they suffered last season as a positive this season. I’m backing Villa at a nice price to pick up another win here against The Baggies.

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