'Battle of the strikers’ - Chris Sutton shares Newcastle United prediction ahead of trip to Nottingham Forest

Newcastle United travel to Nottingham Forest this weekend for a game which has been christened by former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton as the ‘Wood Chopper' derby.

The Magpies travel into the fixture on the back of successive home wins in the Carabao Cup and Premier League against Chelsea and Arsenal with the hopes of improving on a dismal away record which has only seen them win one of their opening five games on the road.

Meanwhile, the Tricky Trees, who currently find themselves in the dizzy heights of third after an exceptional start, are unbeaten in their opening five home games with three wins and two draws, with only league leaders Liverpool picking up more points in front of their own supporters.

The game marks the return of a number of former Magpies in Mat Selz, Elliot Anderson and the freescoring Chris Wood - who is currently enjoying the season of his life in the early months of the campaign.

But how does Chris Sutton see the game at the City Ground panning out this weekend? Here we take a look at his predictions, courtesy of BBC Sport.

Chris Sutton’s Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle United prediction

Alan Shearer’s former strike partner Chris Sutton believes Newcastle United’s trip to Nottingham Forest will ultimately come down to a battle of the strikers in Alexander Isak and Chris Wood.

Isak, who started the season slowly, has began to pick up the form he showed throughout last season this month, with three goals in his last three games. His header against Arsenal was the pick up the bunch and one that has been described by Sutton as a ‘classic centre forward finish.’

Meanwhile, Wood has simply not stopped scoring since the first ball was kicked in August. The former Magpies striker, who managed just four goals in 34 appearances in the North East, has fired in eight goals in 10 Premier League matches this term.

Wood notably scored a hat-trick on his return to St James’ Park last season. Overall, he has a record of five goals in 13 appearances against Newcastle, with the other goals coming during his time at Burnley and Leeds United.

Isak boasts a record of three goals in two Premier League appearances against Nottingham Forest but failed to score in his most recent Carabao Cup appearance at the City Ground this term.

Both strikers are blessed with the ability to turn the game in their team’s favour, but at this moment in time Sutton believes that Wood will be the one to come out on top.

He told BBC Sport: “In many respects this is a battle of two strikers. I loved Alexander Isak’s header for Newcastle against Arsenal last week. It was a classic centre-forward’s finish.

“But this is the Chris Wood derby – aka the ‘Wood Chopper’ derby – and I am backing him to give Nottingham Forest the cutting edge they need against his former club.

“Forest are a team with good balance in that they set out not to concede but they also have players who can threaten on the counter.

“Their confidence must be sky-high and I see their good run continuing.”

Newcastle could climb as high as seventh in the league table with a victory will Forest will be determined to remain in the top four for as long as possible.