Nottingham Forest are now in the relegation zone after their 4 points deduction announced in the last week. Their poor form for major parts of the season has put them in danger of returning to the EFL Championship. Fulham find themselves in a much better position than their relegation-threatened opponents, needing only 5 points more to guarantee their safety in the top flight at the time of writing.
Nottingham Forest conducted impressive business during the transfer window in a bid to strengthen their squad. They signed Ibrahim Sangare from PSV Eindhoven, Anthony Elanga from Premier League rivals Manchester United, Chris Wood from Newcastle, Andrew Omobamidele from Norwich, Murillo from Corinthians, Nicolas Dominguez from Bologna, Gk Matt Turner from Arsenal, Odysseas Vlachodimos from Benfica and Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea. Loanees include Nuno Tavares from Arsenal, Giovanni Reyna from Borussia Dortmund, Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Gonzalo Montiel from Sevilla, Divock Origi from AC Milan and Rodrigo Riberio from Sporting CP while Ola Aina joined from Torino on a free transfer.
Departures from the Forest ranks include Brennan Johnson who joined Tottenham Hotspur, Sam Surridge to Nashville, Gustavo Scarpa to Atletico-MG, Braian Ojeda to Salt Lake, Richie Laryea to Toronto, Mohamed Dräger to FC Basel and Serge Aurier to Galatasaray. Orel Mangala and Joe Warall sealed loan moves to Olympique Lyon and Besiktas respectively.
Fulham had quite several significant additions to their team during the transfer window. Signing the likes of Nigerian attacking midfielder Alex Iwobi from Everton, Calvin Bassey joined from Ajax Amsterdam in Netherlands. Former Wolves frontman Raul Jimenez also joined the Cottagers, Timothy Castagne from Leicester City while Adama Traore joined from Wolves on a free transfer. Fulham also got some players on loan such as Fode Ballo-Toure from Seria A side AC Milan, Kevin Mbabu from Servette FC in the Swiss League, Paulo Gazzaniga from Girona in La Liga, Joe Bryan from OGC Nice in French Ligue 1, Ivan Cavaleiro from Alanyaspor in Turkish League, Terence Kongolo from Le Havre FC in French Ligue 1 and Armando Broja from Chelsea.
Departures from the ranks of the Cottagers include Aleksandar Mitrovic, an integral member of their squad who was signed by one of the money merchants of the Saudi Pro League Al Ahli while also having to return players whose loan contracts had expired such as Cedric Soares from Arsenal FC, and Layvin Kurzawa from Paris SG amongst a few others.
Nottingham Forest have had a really poor season in the Premier League so far. A consistent poor run of results earlier in the season prompted a change in the dugout for the east midlands outfit, relieving Steve Cooper of his managerial duties and handing the reins to former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo. However, the change has yet to spark an upturn in the fortune of the club. Forest sit in 17th position with 24 points, just three points above Luton Town in 18th having played one more game.
Their form in recent weeks is a testament to their poor season as they have only managed to take three points from the last fifteen that have been available to them. Their only victory in this period came in a 2-0 triumph over West Ham United at the City Ground. Forest suffered defeats at the hands of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Brighton respectively. Despite visible improvements in their pattern of play since appointing Nuno, Forest has just been unable to grind out the much-needed results.
Fulham sits in 12th position on the Premier League table after 28 rounds of matches. Their record of 10 wins, 5 draws, and 13 losses has seen them gather 35 points. The Cottagers are not a team who are shy in front of goal, scoring 40 times already this season but their defensive frailties have seen them concede 44 goals in return, leaving them with a goal difference of -4.
Despite lacking consistency all season, The Cottagers have managed to grind out important results in recent times, recording 3 wins, 0 draws, and 2 losses. A vital 3-1 win over Bournemouth was followed by a narrow defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, however, Marco Silver’s men bounced back to winning ways in style as they subjected Manchester United to a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford and then followed up with a 3-0 win over Brighton before suffering defeat against Wolves at the Molineux.
Head-to-head statistics reveal that Nottingham Forest and Fulham have met on 15 occasions. Forest have won 5 of those meetings (scoring 22 goals) while Fulham have won 9 of the meetings (scoring 32 goals) with 1 draw.
Match tickets
The epic match at City Ground in Nottinghamshire kicks off on Tuesday, 2nd of April 2024 at 18:30 GMT.
The magnificent 30,445-capacity stadium will host the Reds and another side hoping to stay in the top half.
Getting tickets for the Nottingham Forest vs Fulham tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Injury concerns for Forest include Ola Aina (knock), Nuno Tavares (knock), and Giovanni Reyna (knock). Taiwo Awoniyi’s goals have dried up and things have not gone well for them, but the Reds will be hoping to make things work.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Toffolo, Murillo, Omobamidele, Williams, Dominguez, Danilo, Yates, Gibbs-White, Wood, Origi
Injury concerns for The Cottagers include Raul Jimenez (hamstring) but he should be back for this game. However, Muniz should continue to lead the line with his great form. The likes of Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey will be hoping to continue their post-AFCON form as we approach the final weeks of the season.
Fulham: Leno, Robinson, Bassey, Adarabioyo, Castagne, Reed, Lukic, Iwobi, Pereira, Wilson, Muniz
Prediction
Nottingham Forest will look to utilize the speed and power of their wide men up front in counter-attacking situations while Fulham will look to press heavily from the front and push their opponents back with sharply direct football when the ball is won.
We expect Forest to maximize home-ground advantage and at least get a result from this game.
Nottingham Forest 2-2 Fulham