Wrexham v Nottingham Forest: 4/1 Red Dragons look great value | OneFootball

English FA Cup

Get Dave's preview and tips for Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

Wrexham can pull off an upset when they host Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday night, says Dave Tindall...

Wrexham v Nottingham ForestFriday, 19:30Live on TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

Red Dragons in flying form

The third round of the FA Cup gets underway on Friday night but with respect to Preston v Wigan, MK Dons v Oxford and Port Vale v Fleetwood, one tie dominates interest.

A home clash against a Premier League club was just what Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was hoping for and, not surprisingly, the TV companies thought so to and the match has been moved to Friday night.

Even better, Wrexham go into the game in flying form after taking 12 points out of 12 over the festive period.

Coming from 3-1 down to beat Sheffield United 5-3 sparked further wins over Preston (2-1), Blackburn (2-0) and Derby (2-1) and now the dream of four promotions in a row is starting to take shape for the Red Dragons.

Wrexham are just a point off the playoffs and the Hollywood-owned club just keep writing great scripts. Victory here would be another.

Will Dyche play weakened team?

Sean Dyche will hope Friday goes better than it did exactly a year ago. On the same day in 2025, he was sacked by Everton just three hours before their FA Cup tie at home to Peterborough.

He'll at least go into this one in a better frame of mind - Everton dismissed him after just one win in 11 games - after his Nottingham Forest scored a key 2-1 victory away to fellow strugglers West Ham on Tuesday night.

It was much needed after four straight defeats and although Forest are still 17th, they now have a seven-point lead over the third-bottom Hammers.

They're far from out of the woods yet but with Forest also involved in a Europa League campaign, it's very easy to think that Dyche will rotate heavily for a competition that could well be a distant third in terms of priority.

Hosts can make fresh history

While younger fans know only the Wrexham of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (he's now legally changed his surname from McElhenney due to it being easier for others to pronounce or spell), those of us longer in the tooth have one main memory of Wrexham in FA Cups.

That was Micky Thomas scoring a brilliant free-kick in 1992 to give then fourth-tier Wrexham a shock 2-1 win over then reigning league champions Arsenal in round three. Tony Gubba's "magic little man" commentary ramps up the nostalgia further.

Thomas later went to jail for his part in a counterfeit currency scam although he never lost his sense of humour. Several years later, he quipped: "Roy Keane's on 50 grand a week. Mind you, so was I until the police found my printing machine."

Wrexham also took victory their one FA Cup tie against Forest in 1982, winning 3-1.

But enough of the past. Let's get to the present and, on current form, the Red Dragons are surely worth a bet on Friday night. Wrexham are 4/1 for the win, with Nottingham Forest 8/13 and The Draw 29/10.

It's a simple argument. Wrexham are at home, just 12 places separate the pair in the league pyramid and Forest have other priorities. Dyche is a pragmatist and he'll know that Premier League survival is way more important than all the hoopla that will surround this.

Wrexham have lost just twice at home in 13 Championship matches this season and only Coventry have scored more goals in front of their own fans. Wrexham have netted 24 times at home.

So a more cautious but still very worthwhile option at odds-against is to back Wrexham And Draw on the Double Chance market (or lay Forest on the exchange).

Team news dictates goalscorer bets

It's hard to predict a goalscorer for either side.

Wrexham will need to give late tests to Kieffer Moore (hamstring) and Josh Windass (calf). Their stand-ins, Sam Smith and Ollie Rathbone, are both in good goalscoring form so any of that quartet are worth a look, perhaps to combine as anytime scorers with a Wrexham win on the Bet Builder.

For Forest, it should again pay to see which starting XI Dyche sends out.