Next up for Nottingham Forest in their 2024/25 Premier League campaign is a trip down to the south coast to face Southampton.
It was not the worst of starts for Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side who took a point from their opener against Bournemouth on Saturday.
However, there will have definitely been a feeling of two points dropped for the Reds having shown such dominance in the first half.
But Forest will be coming up against a Southampton side who were beaten on the weekend by a 10-man Newcastle United.
This weekend’s meeting at St Mary’s is going to provide both sides a big opportunity at three points and Paul Merson has already predicted who he thinks is going to win.
Paul Merson predicts who’ll win between Southampton and Nottingham Forest
With a week left in the window, Forest are still looking to sign a new striker with Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah of real interest to the Reds.
However, any new striker to arrive before the deadline next week is now going to miss the game on Saturday against the Saints.
And it seems as if a new striker is exactly what Merson feels Forest are going to need with the Sky Sports man sharing a frustrating prediction for anyone involved at the City Ground.
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Although Forest dominated against Bournemouth on the weekend for a large chunk of the game, Merson feels as if Southampton are going to secure their first win of the season on the weekend.
“But the upcoming clash against Nottingham Forest is massive for Southampton and they must get results in such games, if they want to stay in the Premier League,” he told Sportskeeda as he predicted a 1-0 Saints win.
“All the three promoted teams certainly had their moments in their opening games. If Leicester give Vardy to Southampton, I’ll back them to stay up. Saints desperately need a goalscorer.
“I’m going to back Southampton to get a win here. I think they will keep it tight at the back and secure a massive win over Forest. Now that is also a huge concern for Forest.”
Nottingham Forest could make a real statement with a win vs Southampton
It has to be said, Forest have been handed quite a favourable start to the new season with their opening three games against Bournemouth, Southampton and then Wolves.
Although not many would have taken the Reds to take all nine points from those games but many will have hoped for at least one or two wins.
And considering there is a game against Liverpool following the game against Wolves, Forest need to make these early games count.
A win on Saturday would certainly go a long way to settling any early nerves surrounding the club considering they did fight relegation right to the end last term.
Forest have recruited heavily this summer and perhaps it is this weekend where they see their new players make the difference.
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