Betis v Nottingham Forest: Ange can enjoy Forest's big night | OneFootball

UEFA Europa League

Nottingham Forest are back in Europe after an absence of nearly three decades

Ange Postecoglou is still looking for his first win as Nottingham Forest manager, and Kevin Hatchard believes it may come in southern Spain tonight.

Seville side on the up

These have been heady days for fans of Real Betis. While hated city rivals Sevilla have been languishing near the La Liga dropzone, Betis have been catching the eye. A top-six finish in La Liga secured a place in the Europa League for this season, and last term experienced coach Manuel Pellegrini managed to balance domestic demands with continental competition.

Last season Los Verdiblancos reached their first European final, as they got to the showpiece game in the Conference League. There they met the overwhelming tournament favourites Chelsea, and despite giving the Blues a scare by taking the lead, they ultimately fell victim to Cole Palmer's brilliance.

Betis aren't currently playing at their traditional home, the Benito Villamarin, but instead at La Cartuja. While they have beaten Alaves and Real Sociedad there, they did lose to Athletic Club, and Manuel Pellegrini's men have only won two of their six games in the league.

Creative spark Isco is sidelined by injury, but Antony is available to raid the right wing after his move from Manchester United. Diego Llorente and Ricardo Rodriguez are fitness doubts.

After a long wait, Forest are back in the big time

While the Europa League isn't necessarily the competition they wanted, having been in a Champions League spot for most of last season, Nottingham Forest fans are surely just thrilled to see their side back in European competition. Not since 1996 have they played in continental action, and let's not forget that under Brian Clough the East Midlands side twice won the European Cup.

The man who got them back into Europe, Nuno Espirito Santo, has been brutally jettisoned after a spectacular falling out with sporting director Edu and by extension the owner Evangelos Marinakis. The replacement is Ange Postecoglou, who won this tournament with Tottenham last season but who still has big question marks over whether his style is sustainable over a league campaign.

The early signs aren't hugely promising. A heavy loss at Arsenal was expected, but then the Tricky Trees blew a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat at Swansea in the League Cup, and at the weekend they drew at newly promoted Burnley.

Influential full-back Ola Aina is injured, while Brazilian centre-back Murillo is battling to be fit.

Forest can avoid defeat

You can get a price of evens to back Forest +0 & +0.5 on the Asian Handicap, which means that a draw is a half-win, and you double your money if the visitors win. I think that's a fair bet - Betis aren't playing at their traditional home, and even though their recent European record is strong, it's worth remembering that it was in the Conference League against modest opposition.

Yes, Forest have made a poor start under Postecoglou, but they have quality players in attack who can do damage to a Betis side that has managed just one clean sheet in six league games. For all that Big Ange gets criticised, he won five of eight league-phase games with Spurs in the UEL last term, and he suffered just one defeat in eight at that stage. That's not entirely transferable, but he knows how to deal with big away games in Europe, and in the knockouts Tottenham won at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bodo/Glimt and of course against Manchester United in the final.

Elsewhere it's well worth using the Sportsbook's Match Ups function to back Chris Wood to have more shots on target than Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso. The Argentinian has had at least one shot on target in three of his six La Liga games, but Wood has had five in five Premier League starts this term, only failing to hit the target once. He has already scored two top-flight goals this season.

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