Enda McElhinney's best bets for West Ham's tussle with Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium include the visitors catching the Hammers cold.
Only a point splits these sides after 11 Premier League assignments so far and, with the table starting to take some shape, it appears as though there isn’t a lot between them.
Forest have scored goals on the road at the Emirates, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge already this season and they are facing a West Ham defence that has not exactly covered itself in glory so far so they may get some initial joy in east London.
West Ham vs Nottingham Forest best bets
Nottingham Forest to score first @ 6/4
Draw @ 11/4
#betyourway Correct Score To Be Either 2-2, 3-2 or 2-3 @ 6/1
Forest worth backing to draw first blood
West Ham come into this less than 72 hours on from beating Olympiacos in the Europa League on Thursday night and Forest may hope to catch them out by making a fast start.
Noticeable last weekend was the manner in which Steve Cooper’s side went after the game against Villa early on, putting their opponents under intense early pressure and duly going in front on five minutes. That was the second time in three games Forest had scored first and they can fancy their chances of doing it again at the London Stadium – as they have already this season at Manchester United and Chelsea.
West Ham started slowly at Brentford last Saturday and were behind within 11 minutes, the third Premier League game on the spin where they had conceded the first goal.
Teams recovering from midweek European exploits to get back to league action has long been an issue and West Ham – with just one win in their last six after what had been a strong start to the season – are clearly finding that challenge tough since the Europa League group stage commenced in September.
There may be a hangover and Forest will be keen to exploit it before the cobwebs are blown off by the home side.
Stalemate the likeliest outcome
It’s hard to construct a really solid case for either side winning this game and, as such, the price about a draw at 11/4 looks quite appealing.
Nottingham Forest – alongside Brentford – are the Premier League’s draw specialists this season with four already from their 11 games.
These teams are separated by the bare minimum – one point – heading into this game and with 11 games now played, the table is a fair reflection of how they stand.
David Moyes will believe that his squad contains more quality overall and, come May, the standings should reflect that but for now the difficulty of balancing European football against the demands of the Premier League is proving tough for West Ham.
Three of Forest’s last five games have ended level and another stalemate in London could be on the way. After a 2-1 loss at Arsenal on the opening day, Forest have collected four points from two visits to the capital since, a win at Chelsea and a draw at Crystal Palace.
Goals can flow at both ends
This has the potential to be a high-scoring game. Nottingham Forest have conceded two or more goals in seven of their last 10 away matches, while West Ham have scored two or more goals in six of 11 in the league this season.
The Hammers have been breached at least twice in 11 of their last 20, however, and only the bottom four clubs in the Premier League have conceded more than West Ham’s 20 entering this weekend’s round of games.
Four of the last six meetings between these clubs have produced four or more goals.
To that end, the #betyourway Correct Score grouping of 2-2, 3-2 or 2-3 has a decent chance of landing at odds of 6/1 in what can prove an entertaining Sunday afternoon tussle.
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