The Premier League’s packed schedule continues on Tuesday, Jan. 6 with Matchday 21 featuring two teams attempting to stave off relegation. West Ham United and Nottingham Forest are both near the bottom of the table, with the Hammers currently four points behind Forest in the standings and the last team to be relegated. West Ham have lost four of their last five EPL matches while Nottingham Forest have dropped four a in a row since beating Tottenham 3-0 on Dec. 14.
Kickoff from London Stadium is set for 3 p.m. ET. Nottingham Forest is a slight +125 favorite (wager $100 to win $125) at DraftKings Sportsbook in the latest West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest odds while the hosts are +215 underdogs (wager $100 to win $215). A draw comes in at +245 and the total is 2.5 (Over -110, Under -115). You can check out the latest West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest picks at SportsLine here, and be sure to see what soccer expert Martin Green is locking in before making your bets for this EPL match.
After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including Euro qualifying (+6.30 units), EFL Cup (+4.47), FA Cup (+3.07) and Champions League (+3.05), among others. Anyone who follows him could be way up.
Here are Green’s best bets and analysis for West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest best bets
- Both teams to score (-134): 1u
- Nottingham Forest to win (+130): 0.5u
West Ham will try to end their nine-game winless streak when they host Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium on Tuesday. The Hammers are 18th in the Premier League table after suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Wolves at the weekend. They’re now four points adrift of safety following a dismal run of results, so the players could be low on confidence right now.
Nottingham Forest’s situation is only marginally better. Sean Dyche’s men have lost their last four games, and they’ve slipped down to 17th in the table. The team that finishes 18th will be relegated at the end of the season, so this is shaping up to be a huge game for both teams.
West Ham’s defensive woes deepen
West Ham’s sorry season reached a new low on Saturday. They had a golden opportunity to secure a morale-boosting win against Wolves, but they ended up suffering a heavy defeat. To put that into context, Wolves had zero wins, three draws, and 16 defeats from their previous 19 games. They’d made the worst start to a Premier League season in history, with just 11 goals scored and 14 conceded. West Ham should have eased to victory, but Wolves blew them away. Jhon Arias opened the scoring in the fifth minute, and Wolves were 3-0 up at halftime. They took a foot off the pedal in the second half, but they never looked in any trouble, as the Hammers failed to muster a single shot on target. West Ham’s outlook is now pretty bleak. They’re priced at -333 with most sportsbooks to be relegated at the end of the season, along with Wolves and Burnley.
Nottingham Forest are four points ahead of West Ham, but they’re priced at +400 to go down to the second division. Those odds reflect West Ham’s dreadful run of results. They fired manager Graham Potter earlier in the campaign, but his replacement – former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo – has been unable to turn things around. They have the worst defense in the Premier League, with 41 goals conceded in 20 games. The Hammers also lack quality in midfield. Captain Jarrod Bowen has been superb in attack, with six goals in 20 games, but the other forwards aren’t pulling their weight. West Ham have picked up just two wins, one draw, and seven defeats from 10 home games, so they could struggle against Forest on Tuesday. They haven’t kept a single clean sheet in those 10 matches while Forest have only kept two clean sheets on the road, so both teams to score looks like a great bet for this game.
Can Forest secure a precious away win?
Nuno led Nottingham Forest to a seventh-place finish last season. It was Forest’s best season since 1995, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy owner Evangelos Marinakis. He fired Nuno in September, just three games into the season, and brought in former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou to replace him. It was a disaster. Forest’s success in 2024-25 was based on robust defensive displays and quick counterattacks, but Postecoglou takes an opposite approach. He favors aggressive, high-intensity, possession-based attacking play, and Forest’s squad wasn’t built for that. Postecoglou lasted just 40 days before he too was fired, with zero wins from eight games. The club brought in Sean Dyche as their third manager of the season.
It seemed like a sensible decision as Dyche is a similar coach to Nuno. The early results were solid, but they’ve gone off the boil in recent weeks. They’re on a four-game losing streak and they’ve lost six of their last eight matches. Forest’s away results haven’t been too bad; two wins, two draws, and six losses from 10 road trips. They also beat West Ham 2-1 at the London Stadium last season, which could boost their confidence ahead of this match.
Both teams are in trouble but Forest boast a much stronger squad. Nikola Milenković and Murillo are strong defenders, while Elliott Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White are superb in midfield. They’ve missed the injured Chris Wood in attack, but Igor Jesus is a decent understudy and Omari Hutchinson also looks lively on the wing. It could be a tight game as Nuno will know how to exploit Forest’s weaknesses, but the away team’s superior quality should ultimately shine through.
