Nottingham vs West Ham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2022-08-13 13:00.
The City Ground will be bouncing as it prepares to host Premier League (PL) football for the first time since 1999 when Nottingham Forest host West Ham United, with both sides looking to get off the mark following matchday one 2-0 defeats. This fixture has a long-standing history, dating back over 100 years but these sides haven’t met since 2014, when Forest ran out 5-0 winners in the FA Cup.
Forest fans will undoubtedly provide the “crazy atmosphere” midfielder Orel Mangala spoke of when signing this week, and that should drive them to at least muster a shot-on-target, a feat they failed to achieve against Newcastle on opening day. The prospects look brighter here though, as Forest have scored an average of three goals per game across their last four competitive home fixtures, though this is certainly a different proposition as they face last season’s UEFA Europa League semi-finalists.
West Ham’s opening day defeat to Manchester City (2-0) was no great surprise, so their bid to qualify for Europe for a third consecutive season effectively starts here. However, the Hammers are already facing an injury crisis with several centre-backs unavailable so expect manager David Moyes to bring in further reinforcements while hoping new signing Gianluca Scamacca quickly adapts to English football and starts scoring soon.
If West Ham are to take the next step and challenge for a top-four place they’ll also need to improve on some ropey away form which has seen them win just one of their last eight PL away fixtures (D1, L6). Moyes probably wouldn’t choose the City Ground as the ideal place to improve upon that though, as he’s never triumphed here as a manager (D1, L1).
Players to watch: Brennan Johnson opened the scoring in four of his last five goalscoring outings for Forest, whilst Michail Antonio netted before half-time in both of West Ham’s final two league away games last term.
Hot stat: Forest have lost their last seven league games (excluding play-offs) played on a Sunday.