Southampton and Nottingham Forest face off in the Premier League at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
After seeing their 11-year stay in the top-flight of English football come to an end two seasons ago, Southampton secured promotion back to the big time at the first time of asking by overcoming Leeds 1-0 in last season’s English Championship play-off final.
The Saints’ Premier League return didn’t go to plan last weekend though, as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle, despite playing against 10 men for over an hour.
However, that won’t have dampened spirits too much and Russell Martin’s team will be eager to rebound when Nottingham Forest come to town.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were on course for an opening day victory last weekend before conceding a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, in a game that brought up my bookings bet.
That being said, the Tricky Trees will have taken plenty of confidence from their performance and they will be confident about their chances of claiming all three points on the south coast this weekend.
How the bookies view it: Saints to march to win
Despite last week’s setback, Southampton go into their first Premier League home game of the season as 6/4 favourites on Bet 365.
Nottingham Forest, who triumphed in their final two Premier League away games last term, are 7/4 (Bet 365) outsiders, while a share of the St Mary’s spoils has been chalked up at 12/5 (Bet 365).
Head to head: Recent history favours Forest
Nottingham Forest claimed top honours from both meetings between the pair during the 2022-23 Premier League season. In fact, the Tricky Trees’ victory at this venue two seasons ago was their solitary road success in the top-flight throughout the entirety of that particular campaign.
Players to watch: More dirty work for Downes?
Flynn Downes committed no fewer than five fouls during Southampton's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle last weekend. The Saints schemer is sure to be in the thick of the midfield battle again here and he stands out for two or more fouls at 59/50 on UniBet.
Chris Wood picked up from where he left off last season by notching for Nottingham Forest last weekend. The New Zealand ace is a chunky 9/4 (Bet 365) to repeat the trick at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups
Southampton boss Russell Martin remains without injured trio Adam Lallana, Gavin Bazunu and Kamaldeen Sulemana.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Danilo is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken ankle against Bournemouth last weekend.
Southampton: McCarthy; Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens; Sugawara, Downes, Smallbone, Alcaraz, Walker-Peters; Armstrong, Brereton Diaz
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Williams, Boly, Murillo, Aina; Sangaré, Yates; Domínguez, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Anything else catch the eye?
I successfully backed Southampton to hit a minimum of four corners at Newcastle last Saturday and I’m prepared to follow a similar theme when they return to their St Mary’s headquarters this weekend.
Russell Martin’s men racked up 12 flag-kicks at St James’ Park and I’m backing them to hit half of that amount at 5/6 (Bet 365) against a Nottingham Forest side that conceded six corners at home to Bournemouth last weekend.
The Saints were the most prolific team from a corner kick perspective in the English Championship last season, averaging 7.41 per-game.
This English Premier League match between Southampton and Nottingham Forest will be played on Aug 24, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Nottingham Forest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
