Nottingham Forest vs Wolves Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 English Premier League
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A rivalry has developed in the midlands between Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers with Nuno Espirito Santo and Morgan Gibbs-White on the red side of the City Ground and the latter ready to rile up Wolves once again.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 31st August, 2024 - UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – Peacock, Fubo, Sling Blue or DirecTV Stream
NOTTINGHAM FOREST PREVIEW: STRONG START
Under the management of the aforementioned Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest avoided the drop on the final day of last season despite having a points deduction imposed upon them. There will be an expectation that the margins are not as fine this time around.
They have started the season quite steadily and began with a 1-1 draw at home to AFC Bournemouth in a game in which they were denied all three points with a second-half stoppage-time equaliser before then going away to newly-promoted Southampton and winning by a goal to nil thanks to the aforementioned Gibbs-White.
WOLVES PREVIEW: NO NEED TO PANIC
Gary O’Neil took charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the week leading up to the season last year but very quickly implemented his rigid and difficult to play against game plans that do also produce some quite entertaining moments in attack and genuinely cohesive attacking patterns of play.
Those patterns of play were on show last weekend against Chelsea but the loss of Max Kilman was perhaps not quite as prepared for as they expected as they then conceded four goals in the second-half of that fiery context at Molineux to lose by six goals to two after losing 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal on the opening day.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST TEAM NEWS: YATES A DOUBT
After suffering a horrible ankle injury just minutes into the opening day of the season, midfielder Danilo has now undergone a successful surgery and is expected to be unavailable for a few months.
His replacement in the eleven, Ryan Yates, is a doubt for this weekend’s clash after he missed their penalty shootout defeat to Newcastle in the second round of the EFL Cup in midweek due to illness.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Sels; Williams, Boly, Murillo, Alex Moreno; Dominguez, Sangare; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
UNAVAILABLE: Danilo (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Yates (Illness)
WOLVES TEAM NEWS: JOHNSTONE & SEMEDO AVAILABLE
New signing Sam Johnstone arrived just in time to be registered to play at the City Ground so he could be available to make his debut this weekend, whilst Wolves have also been able to welcome Nelson Semedo back from suspension.
The visitors do remain without a few key players such as Enso Gonzalez and Sasa Kalajdzic. Midfielder Boubacar Traore has picked up a knee injury in midweek and he will be unavailable for this one.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Johnstone; Semedo, Yerson Mosquera, Toti, Ait-Nouri; Joao Gomes, Lemina; Hwang, Cunha, Bellegarde; Strand Larsen
UNAVAILABLE: Traore (Injured), Enso Gonzalez (Injured), Kalajdzic (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS WOLVES PREDICTION
The derby and rivalry that this one is and has become does lend it some intrigue but the likelihood is that, bar that, it might not be overly interesting for the neutral. Nottingham Forest have created a fair few chances and have attacking talent but Nuno’s natural style is quite defensive. Wolves, on the other hand, will be seeking to batten down the hatches after last weekend’s annihilation so a low-scoring affair seems quite likely.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS WOLVES TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
