Nottingham Forest will be looking to make it four wins in their last four games on Sunday afternoon, with Newcastle United set to come to the City Ground.
Nuno Espirito Santo faces one of his toughest challenges yet with Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United heading into this one off the back of a win over Arsenal.
Nottingham Forest got the better of a London club themselves last time out, as West Ham United were dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 loss at the City Ground.
It wasn’t just Chris Wood who got in on the act, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina grabbing a couple of screamers from outside the area.
Aina’s goal was so good that even Hudson-Odoi displayed his shock after the game.
With the Magpies up next, Paul Merson has issues his prediction.
Paul Merson predicts the outcome of Nottingham Forest against Newcastle United
Paul Merson opted for a 2-1 win for Nottingham Forest in their last clash with West Ham.
To be fair to him, the result was right and he couldn’t have accounted for the red card that Edson Alvarez would receive, so we’ll give him this one.
Now, he’s back with another prediction for the Newcastle clash, and it’s more of the same
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Paul Merson believes that Nottingham Forest will get the better of Newcastle United in a 2-1 win at the City Ground.
“Nottingham Forest are flying aren’t they? This is a really hard game for Newcastle in my opinion. I say this every week, Forest are a much better team away from home. But they got an incredible win at home against West Ham last weekend and I have a feeling they will back it up!
“If Forest do that they will be virtually safe from relegation in my opinion. Can you believe it? It’s only been 11 games and we’re talking about them retaining their status in the top-flight. 22 points from the first 11 games is really, really good if you’re Forest.
“I like when teams aim for the stars and I’m going to say they should look at European qualification as a realistic target if they can beat Newcastle. If they can remain positive and believe in their abilities, I’m sure Forest will stand a chance in making it to the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
“A defeat would be a big disappointment for Newcastle, especially after that win over Arsenal. But I just haven’t seen enough from them to think they will outplay Forest away from home on current form.”
Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood set for reunions
Both Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood enjoyed spells at Newcastle United, with the former only joining Nottingham Forest in the summer.
Interestingly, Anderson moving to Newcastle was purely down to PSR issues that the Magpies had. Eddie Howe even admitted that he didn’t want the midfielder to leave.
Chris Wood just wasn’t able to ensure consistency in the black and white stripes, scoring just five goals in 39 games, which seems absolutely awful when you consider this season’s record.
After starting on the substitutes’ bench last time out against West Ham, it wouldn’t surprise us if Anderson is brought back in to face his former club from the start.
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