Nottingham Forest are serious contenders for a top-four finish
01/05/2025 08:43 AM
There’s a new guy swanning around Nottingham stealing from the rich and bringing good times to the poor and he goes by the name of Nuno Espírito Santo.
Instead of plundering possessions from an evil sheriff, he's swiping points from the Premier League aristocracy including Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa with six wins in Nottingham Forest’s last seven matches keeping them firmly in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Usurping Robin Hood as the hero from Sherwood Forest it's Chris Wood who has led a growing band of merry men from the depths of last season's relegation battle to third place in the current standings.
Victory against Wolves at Molineux in their first match of 2025 would put the Tricky Trees level on points with second-placed Arsenal and further improve their chances of Champions League football next season.
It's not an easy raid but only league leaders Liverpool have more wins on the road with seven compared to Forest's six and while Monday night's hosts Wolves have picked up under new manager Victor Pereira with victories against Leicester and Manchester United plus a draw at Tottenham, Forest should prevail.
Nuno loves guiding midlands clubs to success and led Wolves out of the Championship and into Europa League football before an ill-fated spell at Spurs.
He has crafted Forest into a disciplined outfit and Wood, who has scored 11 times in the top-flight this term, is 5/1 with bet365, Betfair and Paddy Power to break the deadlock.
He isn't, however, Forest’s only source of goals and Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White have also found the net in recent victories against Everton, Brentford, Spurs and Villa.
Former Manchester United winger Elanga has scored three times in the last four matches and is 9/2 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Sky Bet to hit the net at any time.
Wolves are without prolific forward Matheus Cunha, who is suspended, and will lack the punch required to breach a disciplined Forest rearguard so back a 2-0 away win at 11/1 with bet365 while a sixth consecutive league victory for the Reds is 5/4 with William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and others.
Meanwhile, a top-four finish is a realistic proposition and Forest are 9/2 pretty much across the board.
• QPR have lost just once in their last ten Championship matches, winning five and drawing four, and are climbing away from relegation trouble. They can beat struggling Luton, who have lost four of their last five including the last three in a row, at 29/20 with William Hill. Defender Jimmy Dunne, who has scored in three of the last seven games, is 10/1 with to improve that tally at any time.
• No surprises that Luke Littler is the red-hot favourite to retain his World Darts Championship title at the end of the year at no bigger than 7/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
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