Match Preview
Fulham v Nottingham Forest
Premier League Match Day 17 25/26 at Craven Cottage
Monday 22nd December 2025 KO: 20:00
Referee:
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Live on Sky Sports
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Fulham and Nottingham Forest face each other at Craven Cottage on Monday night in the final Premier League fixture before Christmas Day.
With a win Fulham can leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur and
Bournemouth in the table but with only two points separating Fulham and Forest a defeat would see Marco Silva's team drop to 16th.
Starved of silverware throughout their existence - unless lower-league titles and the Intertoto Cup is factored into the equation - Fulham saw another shot at a major honour pass them by in Wednesday's gut-wrenching 2-1 loss to EFL Cup holders Newcastle United in the quarter-finals.
Silva's men succumbed to Lewis Miley's injury-time header as their Wembley dreams evaporated in the North East, although some fans may eventually be grateful for their side's elimination while the Cottagers remain close to the Premier League trapdoor.
Inconsistency has bedevilled Fulham all season long - a consequence of their extremely quiet transfer window on the incomings front - and the Cottagers reside in 15th place in the table as a result, albeit seven points clear of the relegation zone.
The Harry Wilson-inspired hosts did conquer Burnley 3-2 in gameweek 16 to snap a two-game losing run in the division, although their outrageous 5-4 reverse to Manchester City was not a typical defeat for Silva's men, who can be expected to provide the festive entertainment.
Indeed, the hosts have both scored and conceded in each of their last five games in all competitions and have also found the back of the net in nine of their 10 contests at Craven Cottage this season, only being shut out by title-chasing Arsenal.
On the other side of the coin, backing both teams to score when Forest are involved is usually ill-advised, as that outcome has only occurred once in the Tricky Trees' last seven games across the Premier League and Europa League.
That solitary instance came two Thursdays ago in their 2-1 European success over FC Utrecht, before the Garibaldi tore a timid Tottenham Hotspur to shreds at the City Ground, strolling to a 3-0 win over the Europa League winners.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ibrahim Sangare single-handedly slaughtered Spurs with three goals and three assists between them, as Dyche's side will remain above the dotted line on Christmas Day no matter what transpires in gameweek 17.
A penny for Ange Postecoglou's thoughts during Forest's exceptional revival, as the visitors have won six of their last eight matches in all tournaments under Dyche's leadership, suggesting that a terrible trend could be bucked on Monday.
Fulham and Forest have only ever met three times in the Premier League at Craven Cottage, and the hosts have prevailed in all three games by an aggregate score of 9-1, which also represents the visitors' worst 100% losing rate against a single opponent away from home in the competition.
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Fulham have won five of their six Premier League games against Nottingham Forest, including all three at home. It’s their highest win rate against any side they’ve faced more than twice in the competition (83%).
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Nottingham Forest have lost all three of their Premier League away games against Fulham by an aggregate score of 9-1. It’s their worst 100% loss rate away from home against any opponent in the competition.
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Fulham have lost seven of their last nine Monday night (7pm or later) matches in the Premier League, though the two exceptions have been victories in their last two Monday night home games (vs Wolves and Brentford).
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Fulham have lost their last two Premier League home games. Since their return to the top-flight in 2022, they’ve only lost three in a row at Craven Cottage once, doing so in April/May last season.
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Fulham have both scored and conceded in each of their last four Premier League games, with these games producing a total of 20 goals (5 per game).
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All seven of Fulham’s goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season have been from corners, with only Arsenal (9) netting more corner goals than the Cottagers.
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Fulham’s Harry Wilson has been involved in six goals in his last four Premier League games (3 goals, 3 assists). Overall, he’s been involved in eight goals this season (5 goals, 3 assists), his second most in a top-flight campaign after 2023-24 (10).
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Nottingham Forest lost their first Monday game following their return to the Premier League in 2022 (0-4 vs Leicester) but are since unbeaten in their last seven on this day (W4 D3).
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Nottingham Forest have won four of their last six Premier League games (L2), more than they had in their previous 18 (W3 D5 L10). Forest have scored 3+ goals in three of their eight Premier League games under Sean Dyche, as many times as Everton did in their final 49 under Dyche.
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Ibrahim Sangaré was involved in all three of Nottingham Forest’s goals in their 3-0 win over Tottenham last time out (1 goal, 2 assists), having registered just two goal involvements in his first 42 Premier League appearances.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports