Chris Wood has hit career-best form for Nottingham Forest this season and as a former Newcastle player, the 32-year-old New Zealander will be itching to prolong his early-season purple patch with another impactful display against the Magpies.

As a result, Wood looks like an outstanding option in the 1+ shots on target bracket on Sunday. The striker has been averaging a healthy 2.25 shots and 1.46 on target per 90 minutes in the Premier League since the summer and he’s been accurate with 65% of his efforts at goal so far.

Newcastle tried to sign Anthony Elanga for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £50m in the summer and the Swedish winger has another chance to impress his suitors when the Magpies visit the City Ground on Sunday.

Elanga possesses searing acceleration and his markers often resort to fouls to halt the Forest winger in his tracks. The rapid 22-year-old has been drawing 1.45 fouls per 90 minutes in the Premier League this term as a consequence, so look for Elanga’s explosive pace to draw at least one mistimed challenge from a Newcastle defender.

Joelinton has long been one of the Premier League’s most prolific hatchet men and the 28-year-old has been conceding fouls at a rate of 2.48 times per 90 in the division this season. In fact, the Brazilian has committed more fouls in total (28) than any other Premier League player since the start of the new campaign.

In Ryan Yates and Nicolas Dominguez, Forest have a midfield pairing with plenty of bite and that duo’s harassing qualities should bring the worst out in Joelinton on Sunday. The Newcastle midfielder committed four fouls in one sitting against Arsenal last weekend and a similar tally could be forthcoming here.

Alexander Isak was Newcastle’s match-winner against Arsenal last weekend and the Swede is finally starting to scratch at the form that allowed him to plunder 21 Premier League goals last term.

The 25-year-old racked up seven shots on target in his last three outings in the league and is backed to register one or more accurate attempts against Forest.

Isak has had more shots in total (23) than any of his Newcastle teammates this season, so service hasn’t been an issue for the former Real Sociedad star and he should have at least one sight of goal at the City Ground.

We return to the goal-scoring talents of Chris Wood for the first leg of this four-parter and the 32-year-old, who is in the midst of an early-season hot streak, has excellent credentials in the anytime goalscorer market against former club Newcastle.

Wood has already notched eight times in the top tier this term and he will be aiming to get on the scoresheet for the fifth league game in a row on Sunday. The New Zealand international scored a hattrick against the Magpies at St. James’ Park last term, proving that he isn’t held back by sentimentality, and Wood can punish his former employers again this weekend.

Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon is as good as anyone at drawing fouls from his markers and the England international has been fouled 2.94 times per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season – a figure that makes him the division’s joint-second-most-fouled player behind teammate Bruno Guimaraes.

Nottingham Forest defenders had a tough time keeping tabs on Gordon when Newcastle last visited the City Ground for a Premier League fixture in February. The 23-year-old was fouled three times on that occasion, so look for the wide attacker to accumulate at least two more fouls on his return to that venue on Sunday.

Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White is low on goals this season (one), though the attacking midfielder has been high on shots and only four of his Tricky Trees teammates have racked up more attempts than the 24-year-old in the Premier League so far this season (14).

Gibbs-White has been averaging 2.22 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League since August and is backed to maintain that output on Sunday. The former Wolves starlet registered three shots when Newcastle visited City Ground for a Premier League assignment in February and he has the tools to trouble the same defence in this weekend’s rematch.

Argentinean anchorman Nicolas Dominguez forms a no-nonsense double act in the Nottingham Forst midfield alongside Ryan Yates and the 26-year-old is likely to bring his combative qualities into Sunday’s skirmish with Newcastle at the City Ground.

Dominguez committed two fouls when he featured against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in the campaign’s early exchanges – a tally he matched more recently in two of his last three starts for Forest in the Premier League.

Newcastle have been the league’s most-fouled team this season, so it’s logical to expect Forest to finish Sunday’s game with a high foul count. Back tough Argentine Dominguez to chip in with at least two fouls in the East Midlands.