James Garner returned to the City Ground and haunted former club Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, as he scored one goal and assisted the other in Everton's 2-0 victory to finish 2025 in the top half.

Preview the matchup between Nottingham Forest and Everton FC with predictions, odds, over/under, betting lines and more.

Nottingham Forest ended 2024 by beating Everton away but they have only earned one point from the past five Premier League meetings between the sides at the City Ground. BBC Sport explores some of the talking points for Tuesday's game.

Moyes stressed post-match how depleted Everton are without winger Iliman Ndiaye and midfielder Idrissa Gueye — the Senegal duo are at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Illness limited Jack Grealish to a second-half substitute appearance, while Michael Keane, Carlos Alcaraz and Jarrad Branthwaite were all missing too.

A lack of strength in depth in the Everton squad has been highlighted by a string of absences. Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are both at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have been injured.

Nottingham Forest had 70.1% possession against Everton tonight, their most since returning to the Premier League ahead of the 2022-23 season, whilst they attempted 52 crosses, also their most in a single match in this period.

The travelling Evertonians were in full voice with a hearty version of “Spirit of the Blues”. Forest then got on the ball and started to turn the screw on the Everton defense. Patterson cleared a dangerous ball and Mykolenko was competing well against Omari Huthinson. Worryingly, Patterson was beaten for speed by Hudson-Odoi.