The Premier League dishes up an intriguing East Midlands derby this weekend, as Nottingham Forest host Leicester City at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Fifteenth-place Forest and thirteenth-place Leicester are locked on 17 points in the table, with the Foxes sitting higher thanks to their superior goal difference.
Leicester thrashed Forest 4-0 at the King Power Stadium back in October, but a lot has changed since then. Indeed, a tighter encounter is on the cards this time around.
Nottingham Forest head into Saturday’s clash on the back of a penalty shootout win against Wolves in the EFL Cup, booking their place in the semi-finals.
Steve Cooper’s side have now won three of their six games since the World Cup, recording one draw and two losses since the break.
In the Premier League, Forest picked up their first away win of the campaign last time out – claiming a 1-0 victory over Southampton at St. Mary’s.
Not only have the Tricky Trees lost just two of their past eight Premier League outings, but they have also sealed three wins along the way – beating Liverpool and Crystal Palace on home soil.
As for Leicester, they were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday – recording a solitary shot on target at St James’ Park.
The Foxes have now lost four of their previous five outings across all competitions, having suffered three consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
When you look at the bigger picture, Brendan Rodgers’ side have lost 11 of their last 17 Premier League games – conceding over 1.5 goals on eight occasions.
Leicester can take confidence from the fact that they have scored at least one goal in each of their previous 15 away league games. Still, they are not in good form right now.
Head-to-head: As we know, Leicester hammered Forest 4-0 in October. That said, Forest beat the Foxes 4-1 in the FA Cup back in February of last year.
It is also worth noting that Leicester have only managed to win three of their previous 11 meetings with Forest across all competitions.
Team news: Forest’s injury list features Jesse Lingard, Moussa Niakhate, Omar Richards, Cheikhou Kouyate and Giulian Biancone.
On the flip side, Leicester will be without James Justin, Boubakary Soumare, Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, Dennis Praet and Ryan Bertrand on Saturday.
There is no hiding the fact that Leicester thrashed Forest in October, but the Tricky Trees have come a long way since then.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Forest will claim all three points on Saturday – scoring over 1.5 goals on their way to victory.