There are two Premier League games taking place on Friday night, after some last minute rescheduling due to the Queen’s Funeral on Monday. We’ve previewed the game between two of the newly promoted clubs for you and have a couple of suggested bets to look at.
Nottingham Forest vs. Fulham Tips
After Nottingham Forest’s unprecedented transfer window, many onlookers predicted that they would be the top promoted club and expected them to finish above Fulham. However, after a promising start the Tricky Trees have lost three straight and have sunk into the relegation spots. Steve Cooper will have been relieved to have the extra time on the training ground to work with his new look squad and try to integrate his footballing philosophies more deeply.
Fulham, on the other hand, have had their best start to a Premier League season since their yo-yoing between the two divisions began. They sit 10th and just two points off the European places. Marco Silva will be hugely encouraged by how his squad have continued their Championship form into the new top flight campaign.
Team news:
Cooper is without Orel Mangala, Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards for this crucial clash and will be tempted to recall Lewis O’Brien after a few disappointing results on the bounce.
Silva is also missing three players in Manor Solomon, Harry Wilson and Antonee Robinson. Layvin Kurzawa will deputise for Robinson at left back.
Nottingham Forest vs. Fulham Odds
Fulham to win – 8/5
Obviously a lot has been made of the quantity of players Forest have brought in but one area they haven’t really strengthened is their central back three. Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna aren’t really a Premier League strength defensive unit and I’ve got a feeling that Fulham lynchpin Aleksandar Mitrović is going to give them a hard time on Friday night.
Forest have also had issues scoring goals with just four netted in their six games to date. Fulham on the other hand are averaging 1.5 goals per game and Forest have kept a clean sheet in just 17% of their games. I can see a fairly comfortable win for the Cottagers here.
#PickYourPunt: Aleksandar Mitrović to score and Joe Worrall to be carded – 7/1
Doubling down on my last bet and I’ve gone for the big Serbian goal machine to score and Forest centre-back Worrall to be carded. Mitrović has six goals in six games and is only behind the freakish Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot charts. The 27-year-old has already doubled his tally from his last Premier League season and has simply carried his Championship form into the top tier. He managed 43 goals in just 44 matches last year and broke the league record in the process. Against a slow backline like Forest’s, he should have a field day.
One part of that backline is Worrall. The 25-year-old is a gutsy, whole-hearted defender and was superb in Forest’s Championship promotion season. However, as mentioned before, he is limited in speed and that will be far more apparent in one of the quickest leagues in the world. Worrall already has three yellow cards this campaign and already leads the Garibaldi for fouls. Worrall also lead Forest in bookings last season with 10 accumulated across the season.
The double pays 7/1 using our #PickYourPunt feature.
