THREE games into the season and already it is looking like a make-or-break game for Everton, who entertain Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Saturday.
After last season's great escape, hopes were high that Frank Lampard would not have to undergo another firefight to keep the Toffees up.
However, the evidence in their first couple of games is that they are once again going to be battling it out at the wrong end of the table after a pair of defeats to Chelsea, which was certainly no disgrace and to an Aston Villa side who had been on a poor run of their own.
Forest have already shown why they are being tipped not to just merely escape the drop, but to have a real go at finishing in the top half this season.
After an opening day loss at Newcastle, they defeated last season's high-fliers West Ham United at the City Ground. An influx of 16 summer signings surely proved that Steve Cooper means business.
Everton's fans will demand a win here, while Forest will be targeting these sort of games to collect points.
How the bookies view it
Everton are favourites and are odds-on across the board, except at SBK, where you can get a bit of evens. Nottingham Forest can be backed at 13/4 with UniBet and the draw is 13/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
It's been 23 years since these two sides met and that was in the Premiership so forget any notion of recent meetings counting. For what it's worth, there were two away wins between the clubs that season.
Here's Forest's win at home to West Ham last week.
Players to watch
Everton will be hoping Demarai Gray has found his feet this season after a modest return of just five goals last season. The former Bayer Leverkusen man is 7/2 with SBK to net.
Nigerian hitman Taiwo Awoniyi marked his home debut with a goal last week and the former Union Berlin striker looks an exciting prospect. He is 7/2 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
You would have to be the most optimistic Evertonian to take the hosts at odds-on against any team in this league and that's easily swerved especially against ambitious Forest who look to be heading in the right direction.
That being said, it could be a raucous atmosphere at Goodison Park and a win will not be easy, so the obvious call is the double chance on Forest or the draw at an enticing 23/25 with UniBet.
Everton games seem to attract corners. There were a staggering 20 in their first home game against Chelsea and 13 at Villa Park last week. Forest conceded 12 at Newcastle and six last week against West Ham.
So the hosts should comfortably win the most corners and bet365's evens for Everton -1 on the corner count should come up.
This English Premier League match between Everton and Nottingham Forest will be played on Aug 20, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Everton vs Nottingham Forest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
