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With the opening weekend of the Premier League season behind us, it’s time to kick off matchday 2 this Friday night with Nottingham Forest vs Sheffield United. Both sides suffered defeats last week so will be looking to kickstart their campaign with a win here.
Correct Score Prediction
Nottingham Forest will be pleased to be back on home soil following their opening day trip to Arsenal. Their form at the City Ground was strong last season and they ended the campaign with three straight wins in front of their own fans.
In total last term, Steve Cooper’s side won eight of their 19 home games. Five of those were by a 1-0 scoreline and that is the outcome I favour here.
Sheffield United are newly promoted and having lost many key players will take time to be seen at their best. Although they remain strong defensively as shown last week in losing 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace.
1X2 Predictions
The Tricky Trees will take confidence from their 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. They caused last season’s league runners up some nervous moments, especially towards the end. Certainly putting up a better fight than in the 5-0 hammering they took at the Emirates last term.
They are always well backed by a noisy home support and that made a big difference last season. Roaring their side on to victories over Arsenal, Liverpool and Brighton.
Home advantage is key and I make Forest a worthy favourite in the 1×2 market.
Draw No Bet Nottm Forest vs Sheffield United Predictions
None of the betting sites have Nottingham Forest Draw No Bet at odds generous enough to be able to back them. But I don’t have any faith in Sheffield United being able to produce a positive result.
BTTS Predictions
Sheffield United sold 15-goal top scorer Iliman Ndiaye to Marseille on the eve of the season. With next best Oliver McBurnie, who scored 13, unavailable through injury it is hard to know where the goals will come from.
Despite selling several players the Blades have kept their defensive unit intact. The same defence that only conceded 39 goals in 46 games in the 2nd tier last season.
Their best hope of a point here is to keep a clean sheet and take a 0-0 draw back to Yorkshire. Either way, No in Both Teams To Score is a very solid addition to our predictions.
Our Analysis of the Nottm Forest vs Sheffield United Match
Steve Cooper would have been delighted to see new signing Anthony Elanga combine well with the dangerous Taiwo Awoniyi for the goal against Arsenal.
Added to Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson, who are constant threats in the final third. The home side are stacked with match winners which is something the visitors cannot boast.
The sale of Iliman Ndiaye to Marseille on the eve of the season was a hammer blow. One which was soon followed by midfielder Sander Berge’s departure to divisional rivals Burnley.
With the loan duo of James McAtee and Tommy Doyle returning to Manchester City, the Blades have been shorn of all of their creativity from the last campaign. In total more than 50 goals/assists are missing from the team if you include the injured McBurnie.
A situation illustrated perfectly by Paul Heckingbottom’s side only managing one attempt on target last weekend against Crystal Palace. So although both sides suffered single-goal defeats in their opening fixture it is Forest who will go into this clash the more confident outfit.
These two sides met fairly recently. Battling it out for a place in the playoff final at Wembley in 2022.
Ironically an equalising goal by Gibbs-White set up a 2-1 win for United at the City Ground and took the tie to penalties with Forest coming out on top. The match was marred by a pitch invasion which saw Billy Sharp knocked to the floor and a Forest season ticket holder later jailed. It will be interesting to see if it takes much for this rivalry to boil back to the surface.
Top Scorers for Nottm Forest vs Sheffield United Predictions
This could be a selection to wait on team news. If you cannot do so then Morgan Gibbs-White is the safest of the tips put forward in this market.
The 23-year-old was part of England’s Under-21 European Championship winning squad this summer. It followed a breakout top flight season in which he scored five and assisted eight goals to help keep Forest in the Premier League.
However, if fit enough to start the selection has to be Taiwo Awoniyi the scorer of Forest’s first goal this season. After a slow start last term the £17m signing from Union Berlin played a huge part in firing Forest to safety.
A return from injury in April saw the 26-year-old score with four of his first five shots on target. Offering more than what appears to the eye as just a physical presence the former Liverpool man top scored for his club last season with 10 goals.
He smashed six in his last four appearances last term. With his strike after coming off the bench at Arsenal meaning he has now hit the back of the net in each of his last five Premier League outings.
Blades too blunt to cut down Tricky Trees
Nottingham Forest had the 10th-best home record in the Premier League last season. They avoided trading places with their newly promoted opponents here, which was the reason.
The hosts pose the threat in the final third that differentiates these two sides. Although overall Steve Cooper’s side had a poor scoring record, it clicked at the tail end of the campaign, especially at home. He will be looking for that to continue at the start of this new season helped by the backing of their vociferous home support.
Last results of the teams
Forest had a terrible end to pre-season failing to score in any of their last four fixtures losing three of them. A final warm-up game with Frankfurt ended 0-0. They at least got on the scoresheet when the real action started in that 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.
A 3-1 win over Derby was a rare bright spot in a bleak pre-season. But the Blades were brought back to earth in their next and final warm-up game, a 3-0 loss to Stuttgart. A disappointing start to life back in the English top tier ended in a 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
