STAR PREVIEW: Stoke City v Nottingham Forest

Hopes were high at the Bet365 Stadium when Stoke began their season, but the Potters have had yet another struggle and they look vulnerable as Nottingham Forest visit tonight.

Nathan Jones was appointed to take Stoke back to the Premier League – or at least take them out of a slump which saw them languishing in the bottom half of the Championship last season after a lot of transfer spending. Things have been dire, however, and their latest debacle – a defeat to Crawley on penalties in the EFL Cup – saw Jones rip into his side, saying it was ‘as bad as anything he’d witnessed as a manager’.

That was the result of a gamble Jones took to change ten of his players beforehand, continuing a dire season which sees them above only Huddersfield in the Championship; they’re yet to win a single game in eight, and have lost six so far.

Stoke City v Nottingham Forest
Championship
19:45 Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, Since 2000)
MAR 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP Stoke 2-0 Nottingham Forest
NOV 2018 CHAMPIONSHOP Nottingham Forest 0-0 Stoke
SEP 2018 EFL CUP Nottingham Forest 3-2 Stoke
JAN 2005 CHAMPIONSHIP Nottingham Forest 1-0 Stoke
SEP 2004 CHAMPIONSHIP Stoke 0-0 Nottingham Forest
APR 2004 DIVISION ONE Nottingham Forest 0-0 Stoke
OCT 2003 DIVISION ONE Stoke 2-1 Nottingham Forest
FEB 2003 DIVISION ONE Nottingham Forest 6-0 Stoke
SEP 2002 DIVISION ONE Stoke 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest were swept aside by Arsenal in the EFL Cup, but that ended a nine match unbeaten run that is deeply impressive given that Sabri Lamouchi’s side have played against all of the current top four already. They have also coped well on the road – they are unbeaten in four away games, including a 1-1 draw at leaders Leeds and a 1-0 victory over second-placed Swansea.

Lamouchi made six changes for the midweek clash, possibly with today’s game in mind, and back at full strength they should feel confident about being able to take the three points here.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK FOREST 5 pt at 23/10 with starsports.bet

---

PROFIT/LOSS SINCE JAN 1 2017: PROFIT 214.76 points
(excluding Political Bets posted 8 August, Premier League ante-post, Cameron Brown football bets)