Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle prediction: Wood and Isak poised to threaten at City Ground | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest’s brilliant start to the season has them sat above Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham heading into this weekend’s Premier League matches and their clash with Newcastle United on Sunday (2pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

Nuno Espirito Santo has brought solidarity and a sense of assured calm to last season’s relegation-threatened club in a turnaround that seemed unlikely just weeks ago.

Newcastle’s visit on Sunday would once have been treated as an unlikely source of points, but now the home team have the bit between their teeth and the quality to take the game to Eddie Howe’s up-and-down side.

The Magpies’ victory over Arsenal last weekend, not to mention the League Cup win over Chelsea, now has things looking rather rosy.

An indifferent start to the campaign has Newcastle in 11th with four wins from 10 games, but momentum is rejuvenated after recent results, buoyed by Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak shrugging off niggling injury issues.

Despite their recent form, Forest are underdogs on betting apps at 9/5 to notch a fourth Premier League win in a row, while odds of 8/5 are available for the Magpies to leave the City Ground with the three points.

Make no mistake about it: the success of both teams is intrinsically linked to the output of their star forwards.

Chris Wood’s ability to pounce on half-chances has defined Forest’s play this season. His effectiveness in the box works perfectly with the creativity of his teammates. Whether it’s Morgan Gibbs-White threading passes through the middle, Callum Hudson-Odoi cutting in from the wing or Anthony Elanga crossing from the byline, Wood is well fed to provide the killer touch.

The same can be said for Isak, whose pace works brilliantly in tandem with Gordon.

The latter’s ability to draw attention opens plenty of space for Isak, who is adept at bursting beyond the last defender with a sharply timed run that gives defenders little chance to catch him.

Newcastle’s combative midfield also allows Isak extra freedom, often drawing attention away from the striker who lurks between the centrebacks.

Both will be absolutely vital to their sides’ chances in this match.

However, Forest have only conceded seven this campaign due to the outstanding partnership between Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo. Newcastle are not bad at the back either, proving difficult to breach after shipping only 10 goals.

Rather than backing both players to score, betting sites that have placed a decent price on shots on target may capture more attention from punters.

Now, for those who do want to back a goal, Wood is the man.

He is likely to prove a handful for Fabian Schar and Dan Burn, whose aggression should mean he is tightly shepherded for the majority of the match. That could prove to be a plus point for the New Zealander, though.

Wood being so tightly marked means he should be able to dictate where his nearest mark goes. He is excellent at just moving at the last second when balls come into the box and already has 26 headed goals in his Premier League career. Those tiny movements that allow him to get ahead of the defender are the kind of details that can win Forest this match.

Football betting sites rightfully expect Wood to make an impact after his eight goals in 10 matches this campaign, so getting a little more precise with exactly how he could do that can add much-needed value to him adding to the scoresheet.

Such a hard-to-call match is likely to be defined by which side can take advantage of the moments they’re on top, which for Forest supporters, just so happens to be Wood’s speciality this season.

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