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West Ham v Nottingham Forest prediction: Premier League betting tips and odds

Follow our football betting tips as relegation strugglers West Ham and Nottingham Forest meet tonight

(Getty Images)

West Ham v Nottingham Forest betting tips


Two of this season’s relegation strugglers meet at the London Stadium tonight when West Ham United host Nottingham Forest in the day’s only Premier League match (8pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

Four points currently separate the two sides, with West Ham occupying the final relegation place, just above Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Forest are four points clear with 14 points from their opening 20 games.

Betting sites make West Ham 4/9 for the drop entering Tuesday’s game, while Forest are 6/1 to go down. However, a rare home victory for the Hammers would have a massive impact on those football odds.

There is a common denominator at both clubs this season, and that’s Nuno Espirito Santo. He started the season in charge at Forest but was sacked back in September after a public falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis.

His final game in charge was a 3-0 home defeat by West Ham, and he left the club 10th in the table. Forest replaced him with Ange Postecoglou, who then lasted just 39 days, failing to win any of his eight games in that time.

Things have gone slightly better for the latest manager, Sean Dyche, who has picked up seven wins and two draws from his 16 games in charge, but they have lost their last four in a row.

Espirito Santo took over at West Ham just two weeks after he was sacked by Forest, and he is in very real danger of becoming the first Premier League boss to be sacked by two clubs in the same season.

The Hammers are without a win in their last nine matches. Things reached a new low on Saturday when Wolves finally secured their first win of the season - a 3-0 win over West Ham at Molineux with the visitors failing to muster a single shot on target against the division’s bottom side.

He is the favourite in the Premier League odds to be the next manager sacked, at odds of 5/4, and Forest look ready to put their ex-boss under further pressure.

West Ham vs Nottingham Forest preview: Who will turn up on the night?

It’s hard to see how a West Ham team that’s failed to score in three of the last four games and hasn’t won since the beginning of November can get the result they so desperately need this evening.

Football betting sites are offering 11/5 on a West Ham win, but there is going to have to be a huge improvement on their recent performances if they are to end what’s become a 10-game winless run.

In Forest, they face another side who have been less than impressive in recent weeks. They have lost to Fulham, Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa in their last four matches with an aggregate scoreline of 8-2.

Defensively, they were all over the place against Unai Emery’s side on Saturday, but they will be hoping the return of Matz Sels between the sticks can help them look more solid.

The former Strasbourg keeper kept 13 clean sheets last season but had a difficult spell before injury saw him lose his place to summer signing John Victor. He was to blame for Villa’s third goal before going off injured, so Sels is likely to start against the Hammers.

West Ham lost 11 home league games in 2025, which is their joint-most in a calendar year, and despite not losing their first home game of the year since 2017, we think it’s going to be another defeat tonight.

West Ham v Nottingham Forest prediction 1: Forest to win - 11/8 Betfred

Gibbs-White to shine

Morgan Gibbs-White scored last time out at the London Stadium, when he opened the scoring in Forest’s 2-1 win in May 2025. Nikola Milenkovic added a second before Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen pulled a goal back for the home side.

The England midfielder was also on the scoresheet at Villa Park at the weekend, with a timely reminder of just what he is capable of as he netted his fifth goal of the season.

In the Premier League, he has four goals and one assist so far, and he’s priced at 6/4 on some football betting apps to score or assist tonight.

West Ham v Nottingham Forest prediction 2: Gibbs-White to score anytime - 3/1 Ladbrokes

West Ham v Nottingham Forest predicted line-ups

West Ham: Areola; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles; Soucek, Potts, Magassa; Fernandes, Summerville; Bowem

Nottingham Forest: Sels; Savona, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams; Douglas Luiz, Anderson; Bakwa, Gibbs-White, Hutchinson; Igor Jesus

Free football bets for the Premier League

Football bettors can claim enhanced odds of 40/1 on an Arsenal win when they face Liverpool in the Premier League on Thursday.

The special talkSPORT BET sign-up offer is only available to new customers who sign up using the link above and opt in to the Arsenal vs Liverpool promotion.

Next, they’ll need to make a deposit of at least £5 before placing a maximum £1 bet on Arsenal to win at the usual match odds.

Should the Gunners win for the sixth league game in a row, bettors will be paid out on the £1 bet in cash, with the remaining amount credited as free bets to equal a payout at odds of 40/1.

Please gamble responsibly

It’s vital that bettors take steps to remain in control of their time and budget when using gambling sites. The same applies whether you’re using the best betting sites, slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, or any other gambling medium.

Even the most knowledgeable racing punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses.

It’s particularly important not to get carried away by any free bet offers or casino offers you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution.

You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs.

You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having:

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Independent a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.

Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.

Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.

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