Southampton vs. Nottingham Forest EPL Prediction:
I feared the worst for Southampton last week. I, like many others, thought they were going to take one hell of a beating at St. James Park, which has always been and probably always will be one of the most daunting places to go as a road team.
Newcastle were reduced to 10 players inside 30 minutes, with Fabian Schar getting his marching orders for a headbutt. But you can’t overstate as a newly promoted side at a top six club. It is still not easy to dominate the game from that incident. In fairness, Russell Martin’s men had been the better side prior to the red card.
The Saints still created over 2 expected goals and had the most shots of any Premier League team from the opening fixtures. They looked okay and their fans would have left the North East thinking they should have got at least a point, but they would have been encouraged that their team more than held their own.
Now they play against a Nottingham Forest side who drew their opening fixture at home to Bournemouth. They did not play well and have the added problem of trying to blend a lot of new players in quickly. If things don’t improve over the next month or so, it would not surprise me to see Nuno Espírito Santo sacked.
Since returning to the Premier League, Forest have a terrible road record. They have won just five times in those two seasons, conceding 81 goals across those 38 total games.
Following their points deduction, Forest held on last season, only securing safety from relegation on the final day. I fear for them this time around, having spent a lot of money on unproven players. I’ve never been so busy on Google trying to research who it is they have bought; it stinks of desperation.
First home game back in the big time for Southampton, and it should be a big occasion at St Marys. I can’t see them getting beaten.
Forest would likely be content with a draw away to one of their rivals for relegation. So, my selection here is Southampton tie no bet, which gives us that extra security of money back should the game end all square. At the time of writing, the money has started to come for Southampton. I expect that to continue up until kick-off.
EPL Best Bet: Southampton vs Nottingham Forest – Southampton tie-no-bet at -122.
