Nottingham Forest vs Brentford tips: Home comforts can push Cooper's troops to victory
- Matty Briggs
- 4 November 2022
Check out our key stats and suggested bets for this weekend’s Saturday afternoon Premier League clash between Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
Steve Cooper was far from happy in front of the cameras after Nottingham Forest caved in at Arsenal last weekend.
The 5-0 defeat was a huge setback after the 1-0 home win over Liverpool and Cooper was frustrated with his side's lack of aggression and fight.
Exactly what he said to his players behind closed doors is unclear, but we can assume they got a severe dressing down after making the leaders' life far too easy at The Emirates.
Cooper will demand a reaction against the Bees in what will be the first of three important home games before the break for the World Cup.
Forest sit bottom of the pile with nine points from 13 games, but a win over the Londoners could shoot them out of the bottom three.
We can expect Forest to show some bottle at the City Ground, where they have won all but two of their points to date. They displayed plenty of tenacity in the narrow win over Liverpool last month and they have beaten West Ham and drawn with Villa on home soil.
Cooper could well shuffle his pack against the Bees. Neco Williams was left out for Renan Lodi at left-back against Arsenal despite Forest keeping successive clean-sheets against Brighton and Liverpool.
Williams could well return, while Jesse Lingard could find himself dropped after a poor start to life with Forest.
Cooper desperately needs to find some goals from somewhere, with just eight scored so far - only Wolves have scored less.
But roared on by a vociferous home support, Forest might just find enough to get past an out-of-form Brentford.
Thomas Frank's side have only won once in their last seven games, and they are yet to win away from the capital. And their last away day saw them 3-0 down against Aston Villa after just 15 minutes, before going on to lose 4-0.
Frank admitted his side were "struggling" and labelled their performance "a shambles."
Like Forest, they need to improve and quickly. They did grab a point at home to struggling Wolves last time out.
But their away form has been a big concern and 4-0 and 5-1 defeats in their last two away games does not bode well for a trip north. What's more damaging is that star striker Ivan Toney is suspended after picking up five yellow cards.
Take away his eight goals and Brentford have managed just 11 in 13 games.
It looks like being a tight game with few goals, but Forest might just have enough to get the job done.
Key stats
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 11 of Brentford's last 13 away PL games
- Nottingham Forest have failed to win 10 of their last 11 PL matches
- Brentford have failed to win their last six away matches
- Nottingham Forest have scored in five of their six home PL matches
Suggested bets
- Nottingham Forest to beat Brentford
- Nottingham Forest vs Brentford under 2.5 goals
