Nottingham Forest vs Wolves Odds
| Nottingham Forest Odds | +115 |
| Wolves Odds | +245 |
| Draw | +240 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -121 / -112 |
It's not quite a derby, but since Nottingham Forest returned to the Premier League, this fixture has carried a little extra spice.
That's mainly thanks to Forest's social media admin, who tweeted a graphic of Emmanuel Dennis playing with three wolf pups — captioned "Playtime." — ahead of a clash between the Reds and Wolves in 2022. After Wolves prevailed 1-0 at the Molineaux, their social media team responded with their own graphic, which showed the score and an axe in a tree stump. The caption? "Playtime's over."
While the same type of pleasantries won't be exchanged digitally ahead of this one, the fact remains: These are two Midlands clubs that will be eager to get one over the other. Forest are fighting tooth and nail against relegation, and a top-half finish is still very much on the cards for Wolves.
Read on for my Nottingham Forest vs Wolves prediction and Premier League match preview.
Nottingham Forest
If you've never watched Nottingham Forest play under Nuno Espirito Santo, here's how it goes. They'll press sparingly and instead cede territory and fall back into their deep block — a base 4-2-3-1 that can look like a lot of different things, including a back six — as opponents enter the final third. Chris Wood, who has become the Portuguese coach's preferred No. 9, often ends up as close as 30 yards from his own goal.
From there, the Reds will deny any space centrally and in behind as best as they can, and hope that their opponents can't inflict any damage from moves that start in the wide areas. When the ball turns over, Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and the two wingers — recently Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi — try to attack as quickly and directly as possible. Gibbs-White is at the heart of all successful counter-attacks, with his ridiculous improvisational ability combined with his running power, strength and ball-striking creating opportunities both for himself and the rest of the attacking quartet.
As evidenced by their position in the table (17th), this works to varying degrees, but at home, with the raucous City Ground behind them, the Reds tend to perform better.
Wolves
Don't be fooled by their advanced metrics, this is one of the best-coached teams in the league, and if a Brighton or West Ham needed to find a new manager this summer, Gary O'Neil would deserve to be at the top of those hypothetical shortlists. O'Neil was appointed four days before the season started in August and given a thin squad — which has only gotten thinner after injuries, particularly at the attacking end of the pitch — yet Wolves have comfortably avoided the relegation fight and could still finish top-half.
O'Neil's team presses intelligently and is well-drilled in possession. The movements, positioning and passes in their 3-2-5 with the ball are wonderful, particularly when it comes to combining diagonal runs with straight balls and straight runs with diagonal balls. While they have been on a tough run of form recently, injuries to Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha haven't helped. Cunha is now back fit, and alongside Pablo Sarabia, Wolves should carry enough threat to make a win on Saturday a realistic possibility.
Nottingham Forest vs Wolves
Prediction
There's been a lot of movement on the odds for this match already, with Wolves opening at +145 and now being +220 or worse everywhere. Even on the road, I'd give Wolves no less than a 33% chance of winning this one, as they'll be disciplined enough to not lose the ball in bad situations, and with Forest being spurned on by their own fans, the visitors could get themselves a dangerous transition or two of their own.
As such, I see value on their moneyline down to +200, and getting this one at +245 feels like a no-brainer.
Pick: Wolves ML (+245)
