– Forest’s 1-1 draw with Palace saw them come out of the bottom three
– Fulham came from 3-1 down to rescue a point at Sheffield United
– Recommended bet: Fulham Draw No Bet
Forest need to make the City Ground a fortress to boost their survival hopes and they’ll be hoping soft-touch travellers Fulham find it too hot to handle.
It was their home form which enabled Forest to stay up last season and they need to resurrect that City Ground feelgood factor to avoid the drop again.
They would certainly be optimistic of getting a win against Fulham, who have won just twice on their travels all season.
Team news
Taiwo Awoniyi remains sidelined for Forest and it’s unlikely that Willy Boly or Nuno Tavares, ruled out against Palace on Saturday, will return.
Bobby DeCordova-Reid or Harry Wilson stand by should 35-year-old Willian not manage two games in three days for Fulham.
The stats
– Forest, who have won just one of their last 15 in all competitions, have kept one clean sheet in their last 19 Premier League matches.
– Chris Wood is the only goalscorer for the Tricky Trees in their last four matches.
– Forest have been involved in a Premier League-high ten games featuring exactly two goals.
– Fulham have won just two away matches in the league this season. Only Sheffield United (1) have won fewer.
– Striker Rodrigo Muniz has scored eight goals in his last eight.
– Joao Palhinha has picked up more yellow cards (12) than any other Premier League player.
Prediction
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Fulham’s away record doesn’t make for sparkling reading but Marco Silva’s are playing better than ever and look more than capable of getting something from their trip to Forest.
It felt like the same old inconsistent Fulham when they fell 3-1 behind at Sheffield United on Saturday, threatening to fall flat on their faces in the game after they had crushed Tottenham 3-0.
But they hit back in style to snatch a 3-3 draw, showing a level of fight they aren’t always associated with.
To be fair, they should have had United well beaten by half time but by at least avoiding defeat they made it just three losses since New Year’s Eve, a run which has seen wins over the likes of Arsenal, Brighton, Manchester United as well as Spurs.
And they have a goal threat in Rodrigo Muniz who is on a run of eight in eight and Forest, who struggle to keep clean sheets, will have to keep close tabs on the Brazilian.
Forest aren’t dominating at home as much as they should be – four wins out of 15 – but recent home losses to the likes of Newcastle and Liverpool were not only narrow but also luckless.
The fact is the pressure is all on them with a relegation battle to be won and Fulham, playing some great football under Silva, can keep them under the cosh.
