Nottingham Forest vs. West Ham United 8/14/22 EPL Soccer Picks, Predictions, Odds

Nottingham Forest and West Ham United face off Sunday in an English Premier League showdown at City Ground. The last time these two teams faced off was in 2014 it was Nottingham Forest that secured the 5-0 victory. 

Nottingham Forest is back up to the Premier League, but if the first game is any indication, they are going to have their work cut out for them to try and stay up in the Premier League this season. In the first game of this season they took on a middle-of-the-road team in Newcastle United, and they looked awful. They gave up two goals in the second half, and that led to the defeat. Nottingham finished the game with five shots but zero shots on goal, and they need to find a way to put more pressure on West Ham United’s defense in this game. Nottingham only had 38 percent of the possession and that led to the defeat. Last season, Nottingham’s offense was so dominant and they need to get back to that here. 

On the other side of this matchup is West Ham United who opened up their season against Manchester City, and they were defeated in that game 2-0. West Ham United didn’t look great, but this is still a team that should be in the top half of the league this season. In that last game against Manchester City, they only had 24 percent of the possession and only one shot on goal. One thing to watch heading into this game is the status of Lukasz Fabianski who left the last game because of injury. Not having their starting goalkeeper would be a big loss for West Ham in this game. 

West Ham United’s offense really struggled in the first game, but going against the defense of Manchester City, and going against the defense of Nottingham Forest is a much different animal. In terms of talent, West Ham is the superior team, and even if Fabianski isn’t able to go in this game, West Ham’s defense will still lockdown Nottingham’s defense. West Ham will score at least two goals and secure a victory.