Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest Prediction: More away day pain for Postecoglou

Real Betis, runners-up in last season's Uefa Conference League, start their league phase campaign in the 2025/26 Uefa Europa League with a Wednesday night game against Nottingham Forest, who are back in European action for the first time since March 1996.

Below are my Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this midweek meeting at the Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville.

Team News

Betis playmaker Isco (ankle) remains sidelined following an injury sustained in pre-season, while there are doubts over the availability of Nelson Deossa (ankle), Diego Llorente and Ricardo Rodriguez (both muscle).

Pablo Garcia has been called up to the Spain squad for the Under-20 World Cup in Chile, so the 19-year-old forward will miss Wednesday's match.

Football Odds

Nicolas Dominguez (knee) and Ola Aina (hamstring) are out injured for Forest, who are also sweating on the fitness of defender Murillo, who has missed his side's last two games with a knock.

Should Murillo fail a fitness test, expect Morato to remain in the centre of defence with Nikola Milenkovic, with Nicolo Savona coming in at right-back and Neco Williams shifting across to the left.

Ryan Yates, Callum Hudson-Odoi, James McAtee, Ibrahim Sangare, Igor Jesus and Arnaud Kalimuendo are among those who could earn promotions to Ange Posteoglou's starting XI on Wednesday.

Today's Football Fixtures

Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest Odds

Betis won five of their eight European home matches last season, and Manuel Pellegrini's side are 6/5 to kick off their 2025/26 continental campaign with a victory on Wednesday, implying a 45.5% probability of success. Forest, meanwhile, are 11/5, or a 31.3% chance, to secure their first win under Postecoglou, while a draw between the two teams can be backed at 5/2.

Betfred are offering several Price Boosts for this fixture, including Antony to Score the First Goal at 7/1 (was 6/1).

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Real Betis & Yes @ 3/1

Neither Betis nor Forest have convinced defensively this season, with the former keeping just one clean sheet in their first six La Liga games, and the latter yet to record a single shutout after six matches across the Premier League and Carabao Cup.

Betis, though, have at least scored in every contest, and they topped the 2024/25 La Liga BTTS table, with both teams scoring in 71% (27) of their 38 games.

Forest only saw BTTS-Yes land in 47% (18) of their 38 Premier League matches last season, but the Garibaldi are now managed by Postecoglou, who saw the selection stick in 61% (23) of his league games in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. The Australian kicked off his Forest reign with a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, but has since seen his new side lose 3-2 at Swansea City and draw 1-1 at Burnley, Forest's third and fourth outings this term where both teams have struck.

With defensive absentees for both sides and plenty of firepower in attack, backing both teams to score on Wednesday looks like the obvious play at 8/13.

To increase our odds, though, I'm adding in a home win, with Forest yet to achieve a victory under Postecoglou, who presided over just two wins from Spurs' first five UEL away matches last season (D1, L2).

Betis may have relocated from the Estadio Benito Villamarin while their home undergoes renovations, but the Estadio de la Cartuja has treated them pretty well so far, with victories over Alaves (1-0) and Real Sociedad (3-1), either side of a 2-1 defeat to Uefa Champions League side Athletic Club.

With Postecoglou still figuring things out at Forest, including what his best starting XI is, I think Betis can take advantage in midweek and post an early three points in the league phase.

Player to Receive a Card - Junior Firpo (BET) @ 13/8

If Switzerland international Dan Ndoye starts on the right-hand side of Forest's attack in Seville, I fancy whoever begins at left-back for Betis to be booked.

Ndoye averaged 3.4 fouls won per game for Bologna in last season's Serie A, and 2.6 fouls won per game in the Champions League.

The 24-year-old was taken down twice for Forest in Saturday's stalemate with Burnley at Turf Moor, once in the first half by Josh Laurent, and once in the second half by Clarets left-back Quilindschy Hartman, after he had swapped from the left to the right.

I'm expecting Hudson-Odoi to be restored to the starting XI on Wednesday, which could mean Ndoye beginning the game from the right, and that spells danger for whoever gets the nod at left-back for Betis, which is likely to be Junior Firpo.

The 29-year-old, with 32 yellows and one red across four campaigns with Leeds United before rejoining Betis this summer, is a standout candidate in the Player to Receive a Card market at 13/8. He's already been booked twice this season for Los Verdiblancos, in just four appearances, the latest coming in last Friday's 3-1 win over Real Sociedad for an offence on La Real's right-sided attacker Takefusa Kubo.

Firpo averaged 1.4 fouls per game in last season's EFL Championship, and he could be undone by Ndoye on Wednesday.

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