The State of Play
Under the management of former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest are in a lot of trouble down at the bottom end of the table. The home team come into this one on the back of a 3-2 defeat at home to Newcastle United last weekend, meaning they are winless in their last eight matches inside 90 minutes across all competitions in the calendar year of 2024.
West Ham United have been in similarly poor form themselves, though, as they slip out of the top seven and the European spots in the Premier League. David Moyes’ side extended their own winless run of form to seven matches after they were thrashed 6-0 by Arsenal at the London Stadium last weekend. That was despite going into the turn of the year with back-to-back 2-0 victories against Manchester United and Arsenal in the reverse fixture.
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Team News
Despite winning the Africa Cup of Nations last week, Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed that Ivory Coast duo Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare will be unavailable, whilst Nigeria defender Ola Aina will also continue to be absent.
West Ham are expected to remain with Brazilian international midfielder Lucas Paqueta for this weekend but The Hammers, with a fair bit of desperation, are hoping Michail Antonio will be fully fit and available.
Expected Line-ups
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Williams, Niakhate, Murillo, Tavares; Yates, Dominguz; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Awoniyi
West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Ageurd, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Johnson; Bowen
What they Said
Nottingham Forest have been really poor at dealing with set-pieces so Nuno Espirito Santo was drawn onto James Ward-Prowse this week. “We have to be aware that they have a good delivery. James is quite a consistent kicker of the ball. At the same time, they are big players and aggressive on set pieces but we have to prepare and be ready for this.”
David Moyes did not necessarily appear resigned to criticism or his potential fate in charge of The Irons but he did accept that he could ‘understand people leaving’ after an early mass exodus during their 6-0 loss to Arsenal.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the City Ground at 15:00 on Saturday February 17th but will not be televised live on the UK. It will also, therefore not be able to be streamed live in the UK.
Prediction
As is the case with a few games in the Premier League this weekend, this one is set up to be a high-scoring and entertaining encounter at the City Ground. Both managers are under a fait bit of pressure, albeit neither appear destined for an immediate sacking should they lose but they very much need a result on Saturday. As a result, it could well be a high-scoring encounter in which both teams scoring appears likely.
