Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea - Betting Tips, Odds & Prediction

Chelsea head to City Ground early on Sunday morning NZT after humbling the reigning Premier League champions at home. Nottingham Forest are on a three-match losing run across all competitions and Ange Postecoglou’s job is hanging by a thread. 

Betting sites in NZ are expecting another win for the Blues, but can their dire situation prompt the hosts to upset the odds? Here’s our Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea analysis and betting tips.

We begin with a look at the current Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea odds across top bookmakers.

Nottingham Forest

Forest boss Postecoglou can’t expect a warm welcome from the City Ground crowd when he stands in the dugout for the Chelsea game. He has managed Forest in seven matches across all competitions and failed to win any. To be clear: this is the worst start any Forest head coach has had in 100 years. 

Home advantage has done little for the Tricky Trees in recent weeks. They head into Sunday’s contest after losing six of their last eight home matches. Backing a Forest win, therefore, doesn’t look like the safest bet on football at the moment.

Team News: Murillo might have to miss another match after getting injured in the Europa League match against Midtjylland.

Predicted Lineup: Sels; Savona, Morato, Milenkovic, Williams; Dominguez, Anderson; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Chelsea

Enzo Maresca led Chelsea to the Club World Cup trophy in the summer, but still he must have been feeling the heat after another inconsistent Premier League start. Injuries have played their part, but it’s hard to lean on that excuse after such a heavy spending spree.

The Blues produced a genuine display of grit and passion to beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge before the international break and take the pressure off Maresca.

The Italian tactician will be watching from the stands at City Ground because he was sent off for his wild celebrations of Estevao’s stoppage-time winner against Liverpool. But Chelsea will still hope to pick up another positive result on the road.

Team News: Estevao has recently recovered from the flu, so he is unlikely to start this match.

Predicted Lineup: Sanchez; James, Acheampong, Badiashile, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Estevao, Buonanotte, Neto; Pedro.

• Nottingham Forest haven’t won a home match against Chelsea in the Premier League since 1999. 
• Chelsea are looking for a third straight win at the City Ground.
• Forest are winless since their opening match win against Brentford.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis surprisingly decided to sack Nuno Espirito Santo after the team’s 3-0 loss to West Ham. At that point, Forest had four points from three matches, but things have turned much worse since then. 

Forest have managed to add just one more point to that tally after Postecoglou came in as the manager. The Australian led Tottenham to Europa League glory last season, but his poor league performance cost him his job. 

It might be unfair to judge Postecoglou’s Forest tenure after only four matches, but the ex-Spurs manager’s past record in the league leaves little room for optimism. Forest have been directionless under him, and reports are already coming out that the hierarchy has lined up Rafael Benitez as his replacement. 

Chelsea have had their problems under Maresca, but they are in a much better shape than their Sunday morning hosts. This should be an easy win for the Londoners, who have shown decent form on the road this season.

Joao Pedro to Score 2 or More Goals  @ $9.00

Cole Palmer might have grabbed the headlines, but Joao Pedro has seemed like the most threatening Chelsea attacker in the Premier League. He has had five goal involvements in seven appearances so far. We’ll take Bet and Play’s $9.00 offer on Pedro to score two or more against a leaky Forest defence.