Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town Prediction: Wood to get back in goalscoring groove

Following a fairytale start to the season that saw them lose just once in their first 10 Premier League games, Nottingham Forest have hit a bump in the road in recent weeks, losing 3-1 at home to Newcastle United before the international break and following that up with a 3-0 defeat away to Arsenal last weekend.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side should be encouraged by the visit of Ipswich Town to the City Ground on Saturday (15:00), however. The Tractor Boys have won just once since earning promotion, although that victory did arrive in their last away game at Tottenham Hotspur (1-2). Below you can find my Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Chris Wood was dropped down to the bench for last weekend's trip to the Emirates Stadium following a long-haul flight from New Zealand just days before the game. He should be reinstated to the starting XI on Saturday, however, in place of Taiwo Awoniyi.

Morgan Gibbs-White was conspicuous by his absence in north London and is touch-and-go to be involved against Ipswich, as are Elliot Anderson and Anthony Elanga. Anderson also missed out on the squad against the Gunners while Elanga was withdrawn at half-time.

Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare remain long-term injury absentees for the Tricky Trees.

Football Odds

Ipswich are still without Chiedozie Ogbene and George Hirst while there are doubts over Nathan Broadhead, Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Greaves, who have all missed games in recent weeks.

Wes Burns is also a doubt after picking up a knock in last Sunday's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Portman Road.

Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Nottingham Forest are 8/11 to return to winning ways on Saturday, giving Nuno's side an implied probability of 57.9%, while Ipswich are 4/1, or a 20% chance, to claim back-to-back away wins.

The draw is available at 11/4, both teams to score at 4/5, and over 2.5 total goals at 5/6.

Wood (13/10) is favourite in the anytime goalscorer market with Liam Delap (11/4) first up for Ipswich.

Price Boosts - Nottm Forest to Win or Draw, Chris Wood to Score Anytime, Each Team 20+ Booking Points @ 4/1 5/1

This is a nice little price boost, in my opinion.

Forest have lost just three times this season and all three defeats have been against sides currently in the top 10 - Fulham, Newcastle and Arsenal. They've already beaten two newly promoted teams - Southampton (0-1) and Leicester City (1-3) - away from home, so they'll be confident of adding a third victim to their list, especially as this fixture comes at the City Ground.

So far this season, only Fulham and Arsenal have stopped the East Midlands club from scoring, while Ipswich have kept just one clean sheet - in a goalless draw with Brighton - so far on their long-awaited return to the Premier League.

If the hosts do breach the Tractor Boys' defence, there's a good chance Wood will have got the goal based on this season's statistics.

The 32-year-old has scored 53.3 per cent (eight) of Forest's 15-goal league tally and 1-0 wins over Southampton and Liverpool are the only games in which the side has scored and Wood hasn't.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are one of the most card-happy sides in the division with only five clubs receiving more yellow cards than the Tractor Boys (31) so far. Kieran McKenna's charges average 2.6 yellows per game, while Forest's average is 2.3 per game having been shown 28 yellows.

Both Ipswich and Forest have had two players sent off in 2024/25, the same number as Southampton and West Ham United, with only Arsenal (three) awarded more red cards so far.

With Betfred, a yellow card amounts to 10 booking points, so two yellows each for Forest and Ipswich would be enough to land the final leg of this price boost with Betfred. Just one red would be enough as well, as they are worth 25 booking points.

Player to Receive a Card - Ryan Yates (NFO) @ 11/4

I'm taking this price all day long with a whopping nine players ahead of Forest's Ryan Yates in the 'Player to Receive a Card' ranks. I'm slightly surprised at the amount of men in front of him as the 27-year-old is notoriously one of the most physical midfielders in the Premier League and someone who never shirks away from a challenge.

Yates picked up five yellows from 26 appearances in his first top-flight campaign in 2022/23 and followed that up with six in 35 games last season.

He's already well on the way to beating that total having received four cautions in his first 12 outings this term, including back-to-back yellows against Newcastle and Arsenal this month.

The Englishman was also booked in the September 28 defeat to Fulham, meaning he has picked up a card in half (two) of Forest's last four games at the City Ground.

I predict a big battle in the middle of the park between him and Town enforcer Sam Morsy on Saturday, with both already on four bookings. Yates is a much more attractive price than Morsy (8/5) or the Egyptian's midfield partner Jens Cajuste (7/5), however, so it's him who I'm backing for a card in the East Midlands.

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