Nottingham Forest welcome relegation rivals Southampton to the City Ground on Monday night as the battle to stay in the Premier League heats up.
With four games remaining, the Saints find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League table – five points shy of Everton and six points from safety.
Ready for the run-in 👊 pic.twitter.com/TQoKmJiuA8— Nottingham Forest 🌳 (@NFFC) May 3, 2023
Ready for the run-in 👊 pic.twitter.com/TQoKmJiuA8
Meanwhile, Forest occupy 18th place and sit just inside the drop zone on goal difference. However, they are level on 30 points with Leicester City and Leeds United above.
Nottingham Forest ended an 11-game winless run with an impressive 3-1 victory over European-chasing Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
However, Steve Cooper’s men swiftly returning to losing ways at the weekend, throwing away the lead to suffer a 2-1 defeat at Brentford.
Not only have the Tricky Trees lost five of their last six matches, but they have also lost nine of their previous 13, picking up a solitary victory in the process.
That said, Forest can take confidence from their strong home record, as they have lost just five of their 17 league games at the City Ground this season.
Southampton, on the other hand, have struggled on the road in recent times, winning only four of their last 24 away matches in the Premier League.
The Saints head into Monday’s showdown on the back of a 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United, which was their fifth defeat in six games.
Worse still, Ruben Selles’ side have failed to win any of their previous nine league outings, taking a measly three points from a possible 27 during that period.
It is also worth noting that Southampton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight games, so they are bound to concede on Monday.
Head-to-head: Nottingham Forest claimed a 1-0 victory over Southampton in the reverse fixture back in January, marking Forest’s only away league win of the campaign.
The Tricky Trees have won three of their previous five league meetings with the Saints, with three of those matches producing over 2.5 goals.
Team news: Nottingham Forest’s extensive injury list contains Dean Henderson, Giulian Biancone, Chris Wood, Scott McKenna, Willy Boly, Gustavo Scarpa, Jack Colback, Jonjo Shelvey, Danilo, Omar Richards and Neco Williams.
As for Southampton, they look set to be without the injured trio of Romain Perraud, Mohamed Salisu and Juan Larios for Monday’s clash.
This is destined to be an enthralling encounter between two sides fighting for the lives at the bottom end of the Premier League table.
Given Nottingham Forest’s strong home record, Forebet predicts that Cooper’s men will edge Southampton in a high-scoring thriller at the City Ground.