NEWCASTLE UNITED are used to high expectations, but they will go through the roof this season as the mega-rich Geordies kick off their season with a fascinating clash with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.
Eddie Howe made a really encouraging start last season as he effortlessly guided the Toon away from relegation trouble. Mind you, it helps when you're reputedly the new richest club in the world following their influx of Saudi Arabian money.
However, his real job starts now because Newcastle fans and the club's owners will expect serious dividends from their financial injection.
United have been fairly modest in terms of splashing the cash over the summer with only £60 million spent on Matt Targett, Nick Pope and Sven Botman, although they also want to land Leicester City's playmaker James Maddison.
They've had a mixed bag of results in pre-season losing to Benfica and Mainz, but have defeated Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao.
Forest have been heavily backed to avoid the drop at the very least and even finish in the top half of the table under the impressive stewardship of manager Steve Cooper, who worked miracles to get them up last season.
They have brought in a staggering 12 players including the likes of Jesse Lingard and Neco Williams for a substantial layout.
How the bookies view it
Newcastle Unitedare warm odds-on favourites here at 4/6 with bet365, although they are as short as 13/20 elsewhere.
Forest can be backed at 5/1 with SBK and the draw is 29/10 with UniBet.
Recent head to heads
The sides haven't been in the same dicision for six years although they have played a couple of League Cup ties since then. For what it's worth, Forest have won three out of the last four meetings.
Here's how Forest claimed their triumphant return at Wembley in May when they beat Huddersfield Town in the play-off final.
Players to watch
When Callum Wilson is fit and on his game, he is as good as just about anyone in the league. He could only manage 18 appearances last season and scored eight times. He is 6/4 with BetVictor to score at St James' Park.
Forest splashed out £17.5 million to bring Union Berlin's prolific scorer Taiwo Awoniyi to the City Ground. He is 7/2 with bet365 to mark his debut with a goal.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's clear these are two of the most ambitious sides in the league this season. Merely staying up won't be enough for Forest after 23 years in the wilderness and Newcastle will want a European spot at the very least.
Newcastle won seven of their last eight home games with Liverpool the only exception and they should make St James' Park a fortress. However, expect Forest to give it a real go and they could well score in what could be an eventful match. Try a home win and both teams to score at a juicy 29/10 with William Hill.
One unusual fact about Newcastle last season was their lack of corners. In their last nine games, only once did they get more than three corners in a match. Newcastle are 5/6 with bet365 to get under 5.5 corners.
This English Premier League match between Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest will be played on Aug 6, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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