On Wednesday, January 1st, 2025, at 23:00, West Brom will face Preston in an English Championship match (match number 008). West Brom, with its superior strength and reputation, has accumulated 36 points after 24 rounds this season, ranking 8th, which is significantly higher than Preston's 29 points and 14th place. Additionally, Preston has a poor away record of 1 win, 5 draws, and 5 losses in 11 away matches. This makes it easy for West Brom, playing at home and welcoming their first match of the new year, to gain support.
However, West Brom's meritorious manager, Corberan, was recently forcibly taken away by Valencia and is currently still led by an interim manager, leaving them in a state of disarray. After Corberan's departure, West Brom has had 1 draw and 1 loss in their last 2 matches, showing poor form and low morale, making them overestimated. On the contrary, Preston has won their last 2 matches, is in excellent form, and has high morale. In their last 9 matches, they have 3 wins, 5 draws, and only 1 loss, with a high rate of unbeaten matches, making them not to be underestimated.
Most bookmakers offer West Brom as the -0.5 favorite with low returns, while a small part starts with -0.75 high returns, later adjusting to -0.5 medium returns. Overall, there is a decrease in the odds and an increase in returns for West Brom, without much support for their potential comeback.
Comprehensively considering all factors, I believe Preston will continue to score points in this match.
Direction suggestion: Let negative, single game suggestion: Preston +0.5. (Entertainment scores could be 1-1 or 0-0).