Accrington Stanley v West Bromwich Albion Betting Tips: Upset on the cards at Wham Stadium

Although this match sees a League Two side play host to a Premier League outfit, given this is the League Cup, this may not be as one-sided as many think.

After nearly gaining promotion to League One via the playoffs the season before, Accrington finished in midtable in the 2016/17 campaign. They have had a relatively good start to this season, winning two and losing once, putting them up in the League Two playoff places for the time being. Additionally, they beat Championship side Preston North End in the previous round of this season’s League Cup.

Stanley matches have seen goals fly in at both ends of the pitch in all competitions with John Coleman’s side finding the back of the net ten times and conceding six in their four competitive outings so far this season. These statistics clearly demonstrate what Accrington’s strengths and weaknesses are – excellent in the final third but poor at the back. It is certainly worth noting that Stanley have yet to keep a clean sheet this season and are the only team in the League Two top seven not to do so.

Accrington have been excellent at home so far this season with three consecutive wins in all competitions. However, this should come as no surprise as they were also fantastic on their own turf last season. Before they lost their final home match of the campaign to Luton Town, they had gone on a 12-match unbeaten run at the Wham Stadium.

West Brom followed up their win on opening day against Bournemouth by taking maximum points away at Burnley at the weekend – something that only a few teams managed to do last season.

Unsurprisingly, that victory at Turf Moor came with a clean sheet which means that Albion have now kept two clean sheets in their first two matches of the season. However, their lack of goal threat still remains an issue and, having only found the back of the net once in each of those two victories, you feel that, when a side does score first against West Brom, they could struggle to get back into the game.

Another surprising element to Tony Pulis’ side victory against Burnley was the fact that it came away from The Hawthorns. The Baggies have had a poor record on their travels for a while and that win in Lancashire was their first in a competitive match in 2017.

Having said all that, all of those good-looking statistics mentioned above (apart from the away form) do not seem to apply to West Brom’s League Cup form. The Baggies have failed to win a League Cup tie in normal time since 2014 and have not won one on their travels since 2012. Tony Pulis clearly prioritises the Premier League and rotates his squad for the cup competitions – clearly having an impact on performances. This may annoy Albion fans but it seems to be Pulis’ way.

With Accrington being the opposition on Tuesday night, I imagine Pulis will once again rotate his squad. Furthermore, given Albion’s away form in the League Cup I think they actually could be on the end of an upset here. Stanley’s excellent home form could also have a huge say in this tie and that is why I am going for Double Chance – Accrington Win or Draw at a profitable 38/25.