Nottingham Forest vs. West Ham United EPL Preview: Betting Odds, Picks, Prediction for Premier League Match

Forest vs. West Ham Odds

Nottingham Forest and West Ham United arrive at Sunday's Premier League fixture looking for their first points of the season.

The former dropped all three points in a 2-0 defeat on opening week at Newcastle United, while the latter suffered a 2-0 home loss to reigning champion Manchester City.

This meeting marks the first team these clubs have met since February of 1999. In eight previous EPL meetings, the Hammers have dropped all three points only once against Forest.

Nottingham Forest

Manager Steve Cooper's side produced a horrendous showing last week at St. James' Park, with little going right for the EPL newcomer.

The most glaring issues were on the defensive end. For the entire match, the Reds conceded two expected goals to the Magpies, who had 59 touches in the penalty area for the most of any team in the English top flight last week.

On the offensive end, Forest created only 0.4 xG, zero big scoring chances and managed just 10 penalty area touches. Further, Cooper's side generated only nine shot-creating actions, ahead of only West Ham on opening weekend.

Some of that can be attributed to new signings Taiwo Awoniy and Orel Mangala failing to feature, but Cooper has work to do if he hopes to earn a result against West Ham.

By The Numbers

• 38 — Shot-creating actions allowed against Newcastle.
• 15 — Shots on target allowed by the Forest defense versus the Magpies.

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West Ham United

The result against Manchester City was somewhat predictable for West Ham, which arrived at the fixture as a heavy underdogsand conceded 2.3 xGA to the Cityzens in defeat at London Stadium.

Manager David Moyes's attack simultaneously struggled, generating only 0.4 xG and eight shot-creating actions. That was the lowest figure in the EPL for all teams during the first week of play.

If there's a case for optimism for the Hammers, it was that they played decent against bottom-half opposition last season. In 20 such fixtures, it finished the campaign at 11-4-5 (W-L-D), but won 14 of 20 on xG in the process.

The West Ham attack also showed out in those contests, producing 1.58 xG per 90 minutes, which was up from a season-long average of 1.31 xG/90, per fbref.com. Plus, it failed to score in only three outings and notched at least two goals in 13 games.

By The Numbers

• 4 — Big scoring chances conceded by West Ham against Man City.
• 6 — Total shots taken by the Hammers against the Cityzens.

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Betting Analysis & Pick

I lean toward Forest on the goal line, but also see value in a prop play.

If there's a unit of the four that showed its true self on season debut, it's the the Reds' defense. I'll assume the West Ham attack will have a much easier experience playing against an inferior defensive side, thus maintain its goal-scoring record against bottom-half clubs.

That said, I believe there are concerns to be had with this West Ham defense as well. Moyes is already dealing with an injury to Angelo Ogbonna and will likely need to deploy Ben Johnson as a makeshift center back or true center back Craig Dawson against the Reds.

Either way, I believe Forest will be able to create more chances at home, especially with a revved-up crowd. Add in that West Ham kept only four road clean sheets last season and I'll back both teams to score ahead of match.

The Pick: Both Teams to Score — Yes  (-130)