Nottingham Forest aim to continue their exceptional form on Sunday afternoon when they host bottom of the table Southampton in the Premier League.
The Midlands side have been the surprise success story of the current campaign, sitting inside the top four after mid-season. Unbeaten since losing to Manchester City in early December, Nuna Espirito Santo’s high-flyers secured another impressive result midweek, picking up a point away to top-flight Liverpool at The City Ground.
Southampton have been as bad as Forest have been brilliant this season and are currently mired at the bottom of the table. Ten points from safety after suffering 17 defeats in 21 games, the division’s bottom scorers appear destined for the drop, with new manager Ivan Juric failing to turn the tide.
Here 90 minutes review of Sum in relation to Southampton.
Nottingham Forest – Southampton head-to-head results (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Nottingham Forest |
Southampton |
|---|---|
|
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Liverpool – 14.01.25 |
Man Utd 3-1 Southampton – 16/01/25 |
|
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Luton – 01.11.25 |
Southampton 3-0 Swansea – 01.12.25 |
|
Wolves 0-3 Nottingham Forest – 01.06.25 |
Southampton 0-5 Brentford – 01.04.25 |
|
Everton 0-2 Nottingham Forest – 29.12.24 |
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton – 29.12.24 |
|
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Tottenham – 26.12.24 |
Southampton 0-1 West Ham – 26.12.24 |
|
Earth |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
Great Britain |
No telecast – live radio commentary on BBC Radio Nottingham & BBC Radio Solent |
|
United States |
Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 3 Canada |
The key to Forest’s success this season has been their ability to keep their first-team players fit and firing, with Ibrahim Sangare the only absentee ahead of the weekend. The defensive midfielder was joined by Danilo in the treatment room, but the Brazilian is back from a broken ankle last weekend FA Cup win over Luton Town.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is unlikely to make many changes from the midweek draw with Liverpool as his side will have five days to recover and Chris Wood was on the scoresheet again as he scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season.
Predicted line-up of Nottingham Forest vs Southampton (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.
Southampton will be sweating on the fitness of young winger Tyler Dibling, who was withdrawn just after the hour mark against Manchester United in midweek with an ankle injury. It will be assessed before the start.
Gavin Bazunu is closing in on a first-team return having been injured since April, but is unlikely to replace Aaron Ramsdale any time soon. Juan Larios and Ross Stewart are long-term absentees for Saints, while defender Jack Stephens is missing with a training ground injury.
Predicted line-up of Southampton against Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1): Ramsdale; Wood, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis; Sugawara, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters; Fernandes, Sulemana; Armstrong.
There are unlikely to be any surprises at The City Ground on Sunday, with Forest sweeping Southampton with relative ease. Tricky Trees have been resolute in defense this season and clinical at the other end of the pitch, and a win against Saints looks inevitable.
Southampton have scored just 13 times in the Premier League this season and could be without the talented Dibling for the trip north. Juric has struggled to make drastic improvements to a squad lacking in quality and is unlikely to turn his fortunes around on Sunday.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Southampton
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