Nott'm Forestvs.Brighton

Nuno Espirito Santo's men were slaughtered 5-0 by a brilliant Bournemouth side in gameweek 23, while their visitors also came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline at home to David Moyes's Everton.

Match preview

A tantalising tussle between two of the Premier League's surprise packages had the potential to be an enthralling affair last weekend, and few should have been shocked to hear that five goals flew into the back of the Vitality Stadium nets when Forest and Bournemouth locked horns.

However, not even the pluckiest Cherries supporter could have confidently predicted that their side would hit the Tricky Trees for five without reply on the South Coast, where the dazzling Dango Ouattara stole the show with a hat-trick while Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo also breached Matz Sels's net.

Forest's atrocious away day came just as observers were starting to consider them genuine contenders for the Premier League crown, but Santo's third-placed side are not mathematically out of the question just yet, even if Liverpool are now nine points better off with a game in hand.

Just making the top four and bringing Champions League football to the City Ground would be a magical feat for the Tricky Trees, whose thrashing in gameweek 23 ended their nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions, but home is still where the heart is.

Indeed, the Garibaldi have won five and drawn one of their last six games in front of the City Ground faithful - only failing to beat Liverpool themselves in that time - and they have only been condemned to back-to-back defeats once in the ongoing Premier League season.

Also reeling from having a lengthy unbeaten run of their own ended, Brighton set out to make it eight games in all competitions without defeat when Everton rocked up to the Amex last weekend, but the contest ended in frustration and fury for Fabian Hurzeler's men.

An Iliman Ndiaye spot kick in the closing stages of the first half did the trick for Moyes's men, who were then caught up in post-match scuffles as tempers boiled over for Brighton at the final whistle, albeit not to the extent of their post-match fracas with Saturday's opponents Forest a few months ago.

Nevertheless, the Seagulls are still in the European picture as they lie ninth in the mid-season rankings - six points adrift of the top six - and after being nullified on home soil, an away day is just what the doctor ordered for Saturday's visitors.

Including their FA Cup crushing of second-tier Norwich City, Brighton have won each of their last three on the road and are unbeaten in six on rival territory; furthermore, Hurzeler's side have not failed to score in a single away game yet this season, making the net bulge in 14 straight matches outside of their Amex base.

The City Ground was also the location of an engrossing 3-2 win for Brighton last season, although Forest managed to travel home from the South Coast with a point from September's fiery 2-2 draw, where both head coaches and Forest fulcrum Morgan Gibbs-White were sent off in the dying embers.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

W

W

W

D

W

L

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

W

W

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D

W

L

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

D

D

D

W

W

L

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

D

D

W

W

W

L

Team News

While it does not excuse Forest's woeful performance in Bournemouth, the Tricky Trees were at least somewhat affected by Callum Hudson-Odoi's absence with a groin injury, and fans are waiting with bated breath to hear whether he will be fit to play on Saturday.

Hudson-Odoi has not been ruled out of this encounter just yet and would certainly replace Jota Silva out wide if given the green light, but long-term absentee Ibrahim Sangare is expected to remain out with his hamstring injury.

Santo should not be expected to make sweeping alterations to his starting lineup despite last weekend's horror show, but captain Ryan Yates only lasted until half time at the Vitality, so a recall for Nicolas Dominguez should await.

As for Brighton, the Seagulls did not suffer any fresh fitness blows in their narrow loss to Everton, but Pervis Estupinan was unexpectedly absent with an unexplained issue, one that Hurzeler is yet to shed more light on.

While an update on the left-back is yet to arrive, Brighton will definitely be without Jason Steele (shoulder), Igor Julio (hamstring), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), James Milner (thigh), Mats Wieffer (thigh), Solly March (muscle) and Evan Ferguson, the latter of whom could leave on loan before deadline day anyway.

Hurzeler was also not afraid to make a half-time change last time out, as Brajan Gruda was sacrificed for Georginio Rutter, one of three attackers vying for a recall on Saturday alongside Simon Adingra and Yankuba Minteh.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Lamptey; Baleba, Hinshelwood; Minteh, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Nottingham Forest's humiliating afternoon in Bournemouth has the feel of a one-off outlier rather than the start of a slippery slope for Santo's men, who have our backing to immediately recover from that freakish result.

Written by

Ben Knapton

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