Oli Nixon has picked out a 12/1 bet builder for Monday's clash between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest
Chelsea vs Nott'm Forest Bet Builder Tip
Chelsea to score o1.5 goals
Chelsea shrugged off the dour Liam Rosenior tenure with a confidence boosting FA Cup semi-final win against Leeds and will come into this game looking to finish the season in the top six. The Blues have scored at least two goals in five of their last ten games at Stamford Bridge and having won 3-0 at Forest in the reverse fixture, this represents a good opportunity to cut loose and get back on track in front of their own fans.
One of the key reasons for this selection is that this game has been sandwiched between Forest’s two Europa League semi-final games against Aston Villa and with just three days rest since the first leg and only two more before the second leg, we could well see lots of rotation and tired legs. At the time of writing, the visitors have a five-point cushion to the drop zone and with Spurs travelling to Villa Park on Sunday, that gap is unlikely to close and therefore, this game could be low on the priority list for Vitor Pereira.
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Morgan Gibbs-White o0.5 shots on target
SWAP FOR JESSE DERRY - 2x FOULS WON
One player who is unlikely to be rested is Morgan Gibbs-White whose seven goals in his last seven league starts have put daylight between Forest and the bottom three. The attacking midfielder looks desperate to impress Thomas Tuchel having been left out of the most recent England squad and has had at least one shot on target in ten of his last 11 league appearances, across which he’s worked the goalkeeper on 14 occasions.
Chelsea’s last three home games have seen them beaten by Man Utd, Man City and Newcastle and in those games they’ve shipped 14 efforts on target. Visiting teams to Stamford Bridge have had joy in attack all season, averaging 3.94 attempts on goal per game and if Forest are to get close to that tally, we can expect their talisman Gibbs-Whitet to be at the forefront of their threat.
Elliot Anderson to be carded
SWAP WITH ZACH ABBOTT - ANDERSON BENCHED
Having mentioned Forest’s fatigue, it also makes sense to have one of their players on side for a booking as they’re more likely to put in tired challenges. With a tally of seven yellow cards this season, Elliot Anderson is the most carded player for the visitors and he’s in good form for bookings having picked up three in his last seven Premier League games. He found his way into the referee’s notebook against Chelsea last season and will be typically flying into tackles in the middle of the park on Monday afternoon.
Up against Anderson in midfield will be plenty of foul-winning players in the form of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer. The Chelsea trio have drawn 4.49 infringements per 90 between them this season and so Forest’s number eight will do well to avoid at least a couple of offences. Referee Antony Taylor dishes out 4.03 cards per game and so won’t be shy when it comes to going to his pocket and so hopefully a shattered Anderson can force his hand.
