Leicester vs Nottingham Forest Prediction, Odds and Betting Tips: Back this 20/1 fancy on Friday night

Both buoyed by weekend wins, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest face off in an East-Midlands derby at the King Power stadium on Friday night. Matthew O’Regan previews the game with bets at 6/5 and 20/1.

After a shock relegation to the Championship, Leicester stormed to the title and instant promotion back to the Premier League. Manager Enzo Maresca was snagged by Chelsea, with the steady hands of Steve Cooper now in the dugout for the Foxes.  

Despite the lingering fear of a potential points deduction further down the line, Leicester have started the season well, coming from 2-0 down at half-time to Southampton last week to win 3-2.  

The Foxes are currently in 14th after back-to-back wins, knowing a win can take them up to ninth ahead of the weekend. Their games have been entertaining, averaging 3.25 goals.  

On the injury front, only Hamza Choudhury and Patson Daka are missing. 

Nottingham Forest have had a stellar start to the season as they sit eighth after their win against Crystal Palace. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been defensively resolute, conceding just six goals – the second-fewest in the league. 

Forest are also unbeaten away from home despite facing Chelsea, Brighton, Liverpool and Southampton. 

Defensive midfielders Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare will be missing through injury, while creative lynchpin Morgan Gibbs-White is out with an ankle injury.

After 12 goals and 14 assists last season, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was signed by Chelsea – leaving a huge void in the number 10 role. Facundo Buonanotte was signed on loan from Brighton to fill that void, and the young Argentine has been a bright spark in the Foxes season.  

The 19-year-old made 27 Premier League appearances for Brighton last season but found consistency hard to come by, averaging just 50 minutes per appearance. The Argentine showed glimpses of promise, scoring brilliant goals against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, but he lacked the physicality and pace to play out-wide in the Premier League. The form of Joao Pedro and Julio Enciso in the attacking midfield role meant Buonanotte was often shoehorned out of position. 

At Leicester, he is afforded more freedom in the ‘10’ role and is shining, scoring three goals and recording two assists in just five starts. Blessed with excellent technical ability and clean ball striking, Buonanotte is thriving as the star man at the King Power.  

He is averaging 0.97 G/A per game and has recorded a G/A in every start since blanking on the opening day against Tottenham, the only game he has failed to hit a shot on target. He is averaging over 1 shot on target per 90, so the 6/5 available for him to record another shot on target presents real value. 

One negative to Buonanotte’s game is his petulance. Last season, he averaged 2.24 fouls and 0.46 cards per game. His desire to work hard for the team is to be admired, but it often leads to him flying into needless tackles and ending up in the referee’s notebook.  

This season, he is averaging 2.14 fouls and 0.58 cards per 90, being shown a yellow in three of his five league starts, with one of them coming for dissent. He was also booked in the EFL Cup game against Walsall – again for dissent. 

A centre midfielder/ attacking midfielder has been booked in every game against Nottingham Forest this season, with 12 brandished a card in total. 

Due to injuries and suspensions, Elliot Anderson played in centre midfield against Crystal Palace and excelled. In his four appearances at central midfield, he has made seven fouls and been booked twice. 

Of the 18 centre midfielders to play against Leicester in the Premier League, 15 have committed fouls, with four booked in total. Anderson will be directly facing Buonanotte, so it would not be a surprise to see the pair lock horns, and both find themselves cautioned.

Leicester vs Nottingham Forest Lineups

The starting lineups for Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest will be displayed in the graphic below once the team news has been announced.