Match Preview
Nottingham Forest v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 06 24/25 at The City Ground, Nottingham
Saturday 28th September 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Josh Smith (Cambridgeshire)
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Two teams enjoying admirable unbeaten runs in the Premier League go head to head at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon, as Fulham and Nottingham Forest pit their wits against one another.
The Cottagers ran out 3-1 victors over a lacklustre Newcastle United while The Tricky Trees have had a week to recover from a chaotic 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Four goals flew into the back of the Craven Cottage nets last weekend, with three of them being for Marco Silva's rampant men, as Fulham dominated proceedings against Newcastle United on a day where Arsenal's Hale End academy was to thank once again.
Indeed, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson, the former of whom was set up by Alex Iwobi, breached the Magpies' backline after Raul Jimenez's well taken opener, as the Cottagers ensured that Harvey Barnes's effort would prove meaningless in the grand scheme.
Nullifying Newcastle was the required response to Fulham's excruciating exit from the EFL Cup, where Preston North End emerged victorious after the longest ever penalty shootout in the tournament's history, with 34 spot kicks required to determine the fate of the Deepdale competitors.
Now fully focused on Premier League matters until the FA Cup rolls around, Silva's men find themselves just one place and one point worse off than Forest thanks to their own four game unbeaten run, a streak in which they have both scored and conceded in every game.
However, Fulham's trip to the City Ground last year ended in a comprehensive 3-1 defeat, albeit only after they had demolished the Garibaldi 5-0 at Craven Cottage in December, a result that hammered another nail into Steve Cooper's coffin.
South Coast chaos reigned supreme at the Amex Stadium last week, where Forest retained their unbeaten streak for the 2024-25 Premier League campaign courtesy of a four goal stalemate, in which strikes from Chris Wood and Ramon Sosa arrived either side of Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck's efforts.
However, the onfield action paled into insignificance as tempers flared severely towards the end, where an apoplectic Morgan Gibbs White took the walk of shame for two bookable offences, as did both managers in Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabian Hurzeler 10 minutes from time.
The upshot of last weekend's indiscretions is that Gibbs-White, the jewel in the Forest crown, will be suspended for the visit of the Cottagers, a damaging blow to the Tricky Trees' hopes of going six games without defeat at the start of the season for the first time in 10 years.
Not since the 2014-15 Championship campaign have Forest, who are flying high in eighth in the table, navigated each of their first six league games unbeaten, and they did not have any EFL Cup engagements to attend to in midweek thanks to their early elimination at the hands of Newcastle United.
The hosts have also found the back of the net in eight straight Premier League games since drawing a blank against Manchester City at the end of April, but none of their last five top flight home matches have ended in victory, their longest winless Premier League run on familiar turf in the 21st century.
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Fulham have won eight of the past 11 league meetings.
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The Cottagers have beaten Nottingham Forest in 42 league matches in total, more than against any other opposition.
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A Fulham victory would give them 11 points, equalling their highest points tally after six matches of a Premier League season.
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Marco Silva’s side have had 28 shots on target so far this season; only Manchester City (36), Tottenham (35) and Liverpool (34) have had more in the Premier League.
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They have conceded once in each of their five league games this season.
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Raul Jimenez has scored eight goals in his past nine league starts.
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Jimenez is one away from becoming just the second Mexican player to score 50 goals in the Premier League, after Javier Hernandez (53).
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Adama Traore has two goals and three assists in his last six league games.
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Forest are aiming to go six league games unbeaten from the start of a season for the first time since 2014-15, and first in the Premier League since 1995-96.
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However, they are without a win in their past five home league matches (D3, L2).
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Their last league victory at the City Ground was 3-1 against Fulham in April.
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Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are the only team in the Premier League this season to open the scoring in all five of their fixtures.
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Chris Wood has scored 14 goals in 21 Premier League appearances since Espirito Santo’s appointment.
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Wood can become the first Forest player to score in his first three home games of a top-flight campaign since Peter Davenport in 1984-85.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports