Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle Prediction: Goals expected at City Ground

After winning another penalty shootout to get to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, Nottingham Forest now turn their attention back to the Premier League.

The Tricky Trees host Newcastle United, live on Sky Sports at 17:30 hoping for three points that will ease their relegation worries. Below we’ve taken a look at this fixture and come up with a couple of betting suggestions.

Team News

Nottingham Forest trio Ibrahim Sanagare, Ola Aina and Willy Boly could all play some part in the AFCON final as host nation Ivory Coast take on Nigeria on Sunday night. Serge Aurier left for Galatasary last week while Chris Wood will be out for at least a month with a hamstring issue. 

Newcastle’s injury issues have hampered them all season. At this moment in time, Anthony Gordon’s ankle problem isn’t as bad as first feared but he will miss this one, while Joelinton, Nick Pope and Elliot Anderson all remain out. Alexander Isak has a short-term problem that is likely to keep him out for a few weeks so Callum Wilson should start having come off the bench against Luton Town. 

Match Odds

Nottingham Forest are 12/5 to win this match, while Newcastle are the favourites at 11/10. A draw can be backed at 13/5, BTTS is 8/13 and over 2.5 goals is 8/11.

BTTS @ 8/13

This is a fairly straightforward first selection. Nottingham Forest have been scoring and conceding plenty of goals of late, with nine of their last ten games in all competitions ending BTTS. The only blip on that record was the 0-0 draw at Ashton Gate, but they drew 1-1 in normal time in the replay.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have also enjoyed plenty of goals recently. Three of their last four matches in all competitions have ended BTTS, with their last outings that thrilling 4-4 draw against Luton Town. They scored three at Aston Villa and two against Man City in their other league outings, while their last five Premier League matches have ended with both teams on the scoresheet. All signs point towards there being plenty of goals on Saturday night. 

Callum Wilson to score anytime @ 6/5

He’s back. It seems as though Eddie Howe can only have one of Wilson and Isak fit at any one time. Now it’s the England man who is back in action and he should be handed a start against a malleable Nottingham Forest defence. 

He’s got a wonderful goals per minute record, having scored seven in 15 league appearances so far this season - at an average of 0.82 goals per 90. That’s a figure only Erling Haaland and Chris Wood can beat, and he always seems to produce in the black and white stripes. I’m comfortable backing him to get on the scoresheet at the City Ground. 

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.