On the back of an emotionally-charged week, Nottingham Forest endeavour to keep their diminishing hopes of Champions League football alive in Sunday’s Premier League showdown with West Ham United at the London Stadium.
The Tricky Trees’ 2-2 draw with Leicester City last weekend at least ensured they would be present on the continent next term, while the Irons’ bottom-half battle with Manchester United ended in a memorable 2-0 triumph.
Match preview
© Imago
The latest in a long line of teams to capitalise on Manchester United’s domestic downfall, West Ham snapped a dampening eight-game winless run at the Theatre of Dreams last weekend, where the Europa League finalists were haunted by a former flame.
Ex-Red Devils right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka played a crucial part in both of the Hammers’ goals on the afternoon, as Tomas Soucek‘s delicate flick opened the scoring before Wan-Bissaka teed up Jarrod Bowen to put the seal on West Ham’s 10th Premier League win of the campaign.
Graham Potter‘s side had previously followed a loss-draw-loss-draw pattern for over two months before taking advantage of Man United’s continental fatigue, and the Irons have now leapfrogged both Ruben Amorim‘s team and Tottenham Hotspur in the lower echelons of the Premier League table.
Thirteenth place is also still attainable for the Irons, not that it will make much difference in the grand scheme of things, and the 2022-23 Conference League champions likely just want the final whistle to blow on what has been a tumultuous and taxing campaign.
Firstly, though, West Ham will endeavour to win back-to-back Premier League matches for just the second time this season – only doing so against Arsenal and Leicester City in February – and not since 2016-17 have they lost their last home game of the season.
© Imago
While there will be no European nights for Sunday’s hosts, Nuno Espirito Santo‘s Nottingham Forest will be competing in some form of continental football next season, although the clash with Leicester that sealed a top-seven finish was not a day for celebration.
Instead, the Garibaldi’s fleeting Champions League hopes suffered another major setback in a four-goal stalemate with the relegated Foxes, and the contest was overshadowed by owner Evangelos Marinakis storming the field to engage in a heated conversation with the first-team manager.
It subsequently emerged that Marinakis was questioning why stricken striker Taiwo Awoniyi was allowed to continue after colliding with the goal-post late on, an incident which left him with a potentially life-threatening ruptured intestine, although he has thankfully now woken from an induced coma.
The news is good on that front, but not so good on the footballing front; Santo’s men have failed to win any of their last four matches, boast just one victory from their last seven contests in all competitions and are now the outsiders for a top-five placement.
Recent history makes for pleasant reading for the Reds faithful, though, as their side have beaten West Ham 5-0 on aggregate across their last two Premier League games and could now complete their first double over the Irons in 41 years.
Team News
© Imago
With no fresh concerns arising from their win over Man United, West Ham should be working with an identical squad from their success at Old Trafford, meaning only Michail Antonio (leg) and Crysencio Summerville (thigh) will be missing.
As well as putting the seal on the Irons’ victory last weekend, skipper Bowen has scored in each of West Ham’s last three home games; the last Hammer to net in four straight Premier League home fixtures was Jesse Lingard in 2021.
Bowen should spearhead a largely unchanged lineup for the hosts, although it would not be a surprise to see Lucas Paqueta return to the engine room over Guido Rodriguez.
On Nottingham Forest’s end, Awoniyi is now on the right path to recovery after his worrying abdominal injury, but the 27-year-old will certainly not play again this season, and no timeframe has been placed on his comeback.
As Santo’s press conference was unsurprisingly dominated by talk of Awoniyi and Champions League qualification, there have been no updates on Murillo or Callum Hudson-Odoi (both thigh), but the former should have a better chance of making the cut.
One of eight nominees for the Premier League Player of the Year prize, 20-goal striker Chris Wood has bagged eight Premier League goals against West Ham in the past, his best record against a single team in the competition.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Cresswell, Kilman, Todibo; Coufal, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Wan-Bissaka; Paqueta; Bowen, Kudus
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Dominguez; Wood
We say: West Ham United 0-1 Nottingham Forest
A scarcely believable sentence just a few years ago, Nottingham Forest should prove a much tougher test than Man United were for West Ham, especially with Santo’s men holding fire in their bellies after last weekend’s drama.
Therefore, a Tricky Trees side with plenty more to play for can strike first, shut up shop and secure a 10th Premier League away win of the season to remain in contention for a top-five finish.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
