“Fresh from collecting four points from two tough-as-nails away assignments at Liverpool (1-0) and Brighton (2-2), Nottingham Forest should have plenty of self-belief to wield when they return to the City Ground to face Fulham on Saturday.

Forest roared to a 3-1 victory over Fulham when the teams last clashed at the venue in April in a fixture that featured 1.50 in xGF for each side and 34 shots at goal combined, and this weekend’s do-over could be just as frenetic.

Marco Silva’s Fulham, who have traded blows with each of their last four Premier League opponents, will arrive in Nottingham ready to go toe-to-toe with another foe and with another end-to-end contest the likely byproduct, bettors should look to the goals markets for inspiration.

The Cottagers have shown promise as an attacking force this season and they managed to clock an xGF of 1.50 or greater in three of their last four league games. They turned chances into goals in a superb display against Newcastle (3-1) last weekend, and they have the tools to threaten Forest.

The last four meetings between Forest and Fulham averaged 4.00 goals per game and more entertainment comes equipped with an attractive price here.”

“Chelsea drew a blank on the opening weekend of the Premier League season in a loss to champions Man City (0-2), though the Blues have been in fine fettle in the final third since.

Enzo Maresca’s outfit have played seven matches across three competitions since that defeat to City and Chelsea managed to score on each occasion, netting 19 times in total (2.71 pg). Chelsea should be able to maintain their scoring streak against Brighton on Saturday, though keeping the Seagulls out at the other end should prove a trickier task and a stake on BTTS for their encounter offers plenty of value as a result.

Albion have failed to score just once in five attempts in the league so far, though they registered 1.60 in xGF and had 21 shots in that stalemate against Ipswich (0-0) and really should have impacted the scoresheet. This fixture has a history of delivering action at both ends with BTTS landing in each of the last six Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Brighton.”

“For the first 45 minutes against Fleetwood on Monday night, Morecambe looked every inch a relegation certainty. They were passive off the ball and wasteful on it. Fleetwood were able to enter their box at will and could well have improved on their 2-0 lead. Credit where credits due, however, Morecambe did very well to salvage a 2-2 draw and pick up their second point of the league season.

We shouldn’t forget the inept display of the first half though. This Morecambe side is devoid of quality. Derek Adams is doing a great job to keep them competitive in matches but they aren’t in a false position at the bottom of the table. They are bottom for expected points too, 22nd for xG and 21st for xGA.

The squad was hastily put together and we shouldn’t forget that Morecambe are fighting ownership battles off the pitch as well as the relegation one on it.

Notts County have a strong look to them. Sitting fourth in the table as well as in the expected points table, they are also first by a considerable margin for xG and mid-table for xGA. If there was any form of criticism it would be that they could tighten up a notch. But going forward, County have threat aplenty. This is a bit of mismatch and the away team are the play.”

“Having endured a wretched campaign last time out, Queen of the South are showing signs of being title challengers in a madcap League One, in which league leaders Alloa are averaging less than two points per game.

Queen’s strength this season has been their home form. Indeed, at Palmerston they have picked up nine of their 11 points so far and have scored all of their six goals, netting exactly twice in each home fixture.

Peter Murphy’s home side have dispatched the opponents they have been expected to in front of their home supporters and should have the quality to continue that run against newly promoted Dumbarton.

While the Sons have been competitive this season, they have yet to win in the league, remarkably drawing their first six matches of the campaign before going down 1-0 at home against Montrose last weekend.

Stevie Farrell’s side now face a real challenge to bounce back against a side in form at home and finally getting up the kind of momentum that was expected of them when they were first relegated two years ago. After fighting back to draw on a couple of improbable occasions earlier this season, it appears their bubble has finally started to burst.”

“Real Sociedad have been one of the biggest underperformers in the league so far, clearly struggling after losing some key players over the summer. They have managed just one win (against newly-promoted Espanyol), accumulating five points from their seven games.

They have scored just three goals in that time, crucially failing to score in each of their last four league games. Sociedad also had a testing fixture against Nice midweek on Wednesday night, in which they were fortunate to come away with a 1-1 draw. They now face a short turnaround for their next league game. .

Meanwhile, Valencia played out a goalless stalemate at home on Tuesday, boosted by the return of Hugo Duro in that game who appeared off the bench. That draw marked a second consecutive clean sheet for Los Ches, which is a positive sign for them coming into this clash at the Reale Arena.”

“Barcelona currently boast an average of 4.0 goals per game this season, only below Celta Vigo who have the highest goal total in the league. In their domestic fixtures, the Catalan side have witnessed at least three goals in six of their seven games so far, with both teams contributing to the scoreline in five of those games.

Osasuna have been less enterprising, but over 2.5 goals have landed in four of their seven games. They have managed to score in all four matches at the El Sadar Stadium this season, so certainly can contribute to the scoresheet against a Barcelona outfit who can look vulnerable defensively at times.

With that in mind, Barcelona look an extremely fluid and potent attacking force, accumulating the most xG in La Liga so far, with 2.7 xG per game. Even without Dani Olmo, Hansi Flick has enough attacking prowess at his disposal to clear this line on their own.”