Nottingham Forest Vs Arsenal Betting Tip: Under 2.5 Goals – 9 January 2022

Nottingham Forest Vs Arsenal

Sunday, 9 January 2022 – 17:10 (GMT)
English FA Cup
Pick: Under 2.5 Goals
Odds: Evens
Bookmaker: PaddyPower
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 7 January 2022)

Preview: In a repeat of their meeting in this competition four years ago, Arsenal make their way to The City Ground where a resurgent Nottingham Forest set about replicating their surprising 4-2 victory in the FA Cup third round from 2017-18.

English FA Cup Betting at Betfair

 

Nottingham Forest – Can Cooper lift team from recent slump?

Former Swansea City boss Steve Cooper has wasted little time transforming the fortunes for his latest employers. The Tricky Trees have risen to ninth in the Championship table and are now within six points of the play-offs, with a game in hand. Momentum has ground to halt ahead of this FA Cup tie, however, losing back-to-back games against Huddersfield and Middlesbrough having previously been unbeaten in nine (W4 D5).

Furthermore, making up for all that recently lost ground is arguably more important than progress in a competition they were never likely to go far in anyway. In fact, the third round has proven the end of the line for Forest in seven of the past twelve campaigns – though 2017-18 was one of those rare exceptions, when a superb collective display in Nottinghamshire accounted for Arsenal in a memorable 4-2 triumph.

Key Stat: There have been no more than two match goals in six of the past eight matches involving Nottingham Forest, while only two of their last seven contests featured both teams scoring.

 

 

Arsenal – First step to FA Cup number 15?

As the most successful club in the history of the FA Cup, Arsenal will be expect to forge another deep run into the tournament. But they were dumped out in only the fourth round last time as holders, the third time in the last four seasons they never made it further than the second fixture, and so are clearly not averse to an early exit. One of them was actually here, in a 4-2 loss at The City Ground, in 2018.

Arsenal do at least appear in better shape to avoid a similar mishap. Last week’s defeat to Man City felt cruel considering they were the best team for most of the contest, halting their run of five consecutive victories in all competitions. Their midweek EFL Cup semi-final first-leg with Liverpool was then subsequently postponed, which didn’t go down well among the fans, who must have felt their team was in the ascendancy.

Key Stat: The bedrock for many a recent Arsenal win has been a rock-solid backline. All but two of the Gunners previous nine victories across all competitions were achieved ‘to nil’. They have won only two of the last six matches in which they have conceded (L4).

Don’t miss out on other Betting Tips & Predictions

Click here for more Betting Tips

 

Nottingham Forest Vs Arsenal Betting Advice

Ordinarily, Mikel Arteta might have rung the changes with this game in mind, but the decision to postpone their midweek EFL Cup game has probably altered the Spaniard’s thinking. The Gunners were eliminated early in last season’s FA Cup though, and suffered third round humiliation at this very venue four years ago, so we can expect a team strong enough to get it done at The City Ground.

 

 

The home side’s recent form is such, though, that a competitive contest is the very least we can come to expect. Forest may have lost the last two but they were tight margins (1-0 and 2-0), while they were unbeaten in eight prior to this. They don’t concede many under Steve Cooper, who has improved the defensive side of their game immeasurably. It is 5 conceded in the last 7 matches, shipping no more than one in 10 of the last 11.

Best Betting Odds – Nottingham Forest Vs Arsenal

Nottingham Forest – 5/1 (Boylesports)
Draw – 29/10 (Coral)
Arsenal – 3/5 (BetVictor)