ONE more win should be enough to secure Premier League survival for Nottingham Forest and they will be desperate to ease the nerves by getting it when Chelsea come calling.
Forest's bid to stay up suffered a blow last week when their appeal against a points deduction for breaching financial rules was booted out. But with just two games to go they still have a three-point lead over a Luton Town side who have claimed just one win from their last 16 games.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side were unlucky to lose to title-chasing Manchester City in their last home game and will need a repeat of that display against in-form Chelsea.
The Blues have claimed morale-boosting derby wins over Spurs and West Ham in their last two outings and stand a chance of grabbing a European place as they head down the final furlong.
How the bookies view it: Flying Blues the favourites
Chelsea's resurgence has them as favourites for this one at just evens with Coral. Nottingham Forest are as big as 14/5 at BetMGM while the draw pays 3/1 with Betway.
Recent head to head: Forest out to do the double
Nottingham Forest won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge earlier this season and that made it three games unbeaten in this fixture after two draws in the last campaign. It ended in a 1-1 stalemate when the Blues last came calling.
Players to watch: Callum out to haunt Chelsea
Callum Hudson-Odoi was the Nottingham Forest hero last week with a double in the win over Sheffield United. He has extra motivation here going up against his old club and looks overpriced at 2/1 with Paddy Power for a goal or assist.
I tipped Nicolas Jackson for over 1.5 shots on target last time out and he delivered by scoring a double against West Ham. So I'm sticking with the big striker here as he always seems to get chances. The same shots bet in this match pays a decent 5/2 with Bet365 and he's 7/4 with the same firm to score.
Probable line-ups
Santo might swap misfiring striker Chris Wood for Taiwo Awoniyi after the Kiwi let down our man Slips Tips last week. Malo Gusto is in contention for a Chelsea start after a cameo off the bench last time out.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Motiel, Niakhate, Omobamidele, Aina, Sangare, Danilo, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Awoniyi.
Chelsea: Petrovic, Cucurella, Badiashile, Chalobah, Gusto, Gallagher, Caicedo, Mudryk, Madueke, Palmer, Jackson.
Anything else catch the eye? Stats bets the way to go
Both these teams have carried lots of threat in recent weeks so it bodes well for plenty of goalmouth action. But combining BTTS and over 2.5 goals only pays 7/10 at Coral so you need to go to over 3.5 goals to get above evens at 5/4 with William Hill.
There's better value in the stats market and Forest playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White is evens at BetVictor to have a shot on target. Team-mate Murillo loves a tackle in defence and he's 2/1 at Paddy Power to commit over 1.5 fouls.
This English Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea will be played on May 11, 2024 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
