Southampton vs Nottingham Forest predictions: Hudson-Odoi could star

- Callum Hudson-Odoi had eight league goals in 20 starts last term
- Southampton conceded 63 times in 46 Championship games last season
- Recommended bet: Hudson-Odoi to score at any time

Southampton struggled against the 10 men of Newcastle last weekend, toiling but unable to find the net. Now they have the first home game of their return to the Premier League as they host Nottingham Forest.

Forest managed to stay up last season but cannot take anything for granted after finishing 17th. They began the new campaign with a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth so they are looking for the first win of the new term too.

Team news

For Southampton Gavin Bazunu is a definite absentee while Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ross Stewart and Adam Lallana are all major doubts.

New signing Yukinari Sugawara was taken off at half-time against Newcastle but that was seemingly a tactical change and the defender should feature here.

Nikola Milenkovic missed out through suspension for Nottingham Forest in their opening game of the season after it carried over from last term but he should be available for this clash.

Fellow new signing Ramon Sosa also missed out on making the matchday squad against Bournemouth but should do so here. Danilo is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, however, as he broke his leg against the Cherries.

The stats

Southampton have an impressive home record, as they have won 17 of their last 22 matches at St Mary’s in all competitions.

Seven of Nottingham Forest’s last 12 away games have gone over 3.5 goals so this could be a high-scoring affair, particularly as Southampton had the worst defence of any promoted team last season.

Both teams have scored in Forest's last four Premier League games and five of their last six wins.

Prediction

It is difficult to read too much into Nottingham Forest’s opening game against Bournemouth, which was disrupted by the serious injury to Danilo.

However, Callum Hudson-Odoi did show plenty of flashes of why he was Forest’s joint-top scorer last season with eight league goals in 20 starts.

The forward seems to relish manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s counter-attacking style, netting seven of his goals last term under the Portuguese boss.

Considering Southampton are a team that like to retain possession as much as possible, the Tricky Trees could get plenty of opportunities to hit their opponents on the counter.

Hudson-Odoi had two shots on target against Bournemouth last week and has become one of the first names on the teamsheet thanks to his performances.

Side with the former Chelsea man to get on the scoresheet on Saturday.

Back Callum Hudson-Odoi to score at any time at 17/5 with LiveScore Bet.

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