1 day Ago By The Tipster
Nottingham Forest are rushing towards a top-four finish in the Premier League and a place in the FA Cup final (Picture: Nottingham Forest FC via Getty Images)Nottingham Forest’s electrifying season can take another upward spike when the FA Cup semi-finalists return to Premier League duty against Manchester United at the City Ground.They reached Wembley by beating Brighton in a penalty shoot-out, their third in a row in the competition, at the Amex Stadium following an underwhelming 0-0 draw after 120 minutes but never really looked in danger and put in a fine defensive shift. Job well done.
Next they will seek to expand a stunning run of six wins and two draws in their last eight home games in the top flight and the two times they shared the spoils were against Liverpool and Arsenal, the only sides above them in the league.They are four points behind the Gunners but 19/1 with Betfair and Paddy Power to finish second, so a speculative bet at small stakes wouldn’t be totally out of order while our 40/1 ante-post selection in the FA Cup shouldn’t fear anyone else in the last-four of that competition. Forest are 17 points clear of their visitors from Old Trafford, which shows how times can swiftly change in football as the Tricky Trees flirted with relegation last term but are now looking good for Champions League football next season.
Get personalised updates on Manchester United every dayWake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link so we can send you football news tailored to you. United visit Nottingham fresh from a 3-0 win at lacklustre Leicester and are still chasing back-to-back victories in the league for the first time this term and it ain’t gonna happen here.
Nuno Espirito Santo is almost certain to be without leading scorer Chris Wood after he suffered a hip injury playing for New Zealand last week, while the equally influential Morgan Gibbs-White is fighting to be fit after crashing into a goalpost at Brighton, but well-organised Forest will still have enough about them to prevail.Nuno Espírito Santo is doing a wonderful job at the City Ground (Picture: Nottingham Forest FC via Getty Images)They are 13/10 across the board to pick up three points but don’t expect a repeat of their 3-2 victory at Old Trafford earlier in the season, this should be a more subdued affair in front of goal with the home side emerging 2-1 winners at 9/1 with bet365. Callum Hudson-Odoi is 4/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and others to score at any time.
• Wolves will look to edge further away from the Premier League basement with victory against West Ham but are without suspended striker Matheus Canha and the Hammers can profit from that at Molineux to take full points. The East Enders are 43/20 to win with Unibet and BetMGM and Tomas Soucek is 11/2 with Paddy Power and Betfair to hit the net at some stage in proceedings.• Trainer Dan Skelton skipped a crack at the Cheltenham Festival with Grey Dawning to target the Aintree Bowl on Thursday, the first day of three days in the Grand National Festival, and the eight-year-old gelding is 9/4 with William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and others to be first past the post.
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