Nottingham Forest play host to West Ham United on Sunday, with the dramatic climax of the transfer window impacting the buildup to the game.
It’s positive news on Trentside as Forest signed Nicolo Savona to finally provide cover for Ola Aina at right-back, with two more crucial additions on the way.
Forest have agreed a deal to sign Cuiabano from Botafogo after months of speculation linking him to the Reds, while John Victor is also joining Forest to make it four additions from the Brazilian side.
The Hammers are still fighting to improve Graham Potter’s squad, too, but in the current context, pundit Chris Sutton is pretty confident about his prediction for Sunday’s game.
Chris Sutton predicts Nottingham Forest vs West Ham
Despite the disastrous start to the campaign, West Ham signed Mateus Fernandes to add a level of positivity to the situation, but that positivity was wiped out on Saturday when the news broke that Lucas Paqueta doesn’t want to play in the Forest game given the speculation over his future.
Before this, though, Sutton’s opinions on Forest’s opponents were made abundantly clear in his weekly predictions for BBC Sport.
He said: “It’s been a good start to the season for Nottingham Forest despite all of their off-the-pitch turbulence. They got a draw last week, coming from behind at Crystal Palace and were excellent against Brentford in their first game.
“[…] I’m really worried about West Ham. I think the West Ham fans have had enough already and we’re not even in September yet. […] Forest should win this one comfortably.”
Landing on a 2-0 Forest victory as his final prediction as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side look to end August unbeaten. If the Reds do secure victory, they’d remarkably break a club record that has stood since Brian Clough was in the City Ground dugout.
Beating West Ham would create Nottingham Forest history
West Ham have a poor Premier League record at the City Ground which Forest will look to exploit, while creating a little bit of modern history of their own.
Should Forest win on Sunday, it would be the first time they’ve won their first two top-flight home games since the 1984-85 season, when Clough was at the helm.
Coincidentally, Forest were also in the UEFA Cup that season, which is now the Europa League. Unfortunately, though, A defeat over two legs to Club Brugge saw the Reds exit the competition at an early stage.
Hopefully, then, the similarities stop at the City Ground record on Sunday, as Espírito Santo’s side look to replicate their brilliant home display against Brentford.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
