MATCH RESCHEDULED: Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle United ‘New’ kick-off time, prediction, team news, lineups
MATCH RESCHEDULED: Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle United ‘New’ kick-off time, prediction, team news, lineups
The City Ground is the venue for a fascinating Premier League contest on Sunday afternoon, as high-flying Nottingham Forest pit their wits against Newcastle United.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team hit West Ham United for three last weekend to surge into the top three of the Premier League table, while the Magpies put a massive dent in Arsenal’s title aspirations.
The Tricky Trees have been pulling up trees and then some in the early portion of the Premier League season, out-performing all of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to nab the final place on the podium after 10 matches.
After ending October with back-to-back triumphs over Leicester City and Crystal Palace, Forest ran a 10-man West Ham ragged in gameweek 10, where Chris Wood nodded in his eighth goal of the campaign before Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina provided the icing and cherry on top.
Trailing Liverpool by six points and Manchester City by a mere four ahead of this weekend’s action, Forest’s start to 2024-25 has been beyond their avid supporters’ wildest dreams, as Santo works the magic that also got Wolverhampton Wanderers into Europe during his spell at the Molineux helm.
Furthermore, with a mere three goals conceded at the City Ground in the current campaign, no Premier League team boasts a better home defensive record than Santo’s team, who are aiming to win four top-flight games running for the first time since 1994-95.
That year, the Tricky Trees did end up finishing in third place in the table – an extremely positive omen if they can clip the Magpies’ wings this weekend – but Eddie Howe’s men also have a spring in their step after the events of last weekend.
Now celebrating three years in the Newcastle hotseat, Howe received the best sort of early anniversary present during last Saturday’s lunchtime battle with Arsenal, where Alexander Isak met a pinpoint Anthony Gordon cross with a fabulous header to gun down the Gunners.
With Martin Odegaard helplessly watching on from the sidelines, Newcastle’s full-back younglings Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall did a number on Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka; the latter’s reward was a first-ever call-up to the senior England team.
The beating of Arsenal marked a second straight home success for Newcastle after they dumped Chelsea out of the EFL Cup, and it has gone some way to helping them reignite a push for Europe, as they lie 11th in the standings with a one-point deficit to make up to seventh-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
However, Newcastle have not been able to replicate their St James’ Park displays in their most recent road battles, only taking one point from their last three Premier League games away from home against Fulham, Everton and Chelsea, and they are yet to win a top-flight match by more than one goal this season.
The City Ground is often a happy hunting ground for the Northern giants, though, as they have never lost in six Premier League visits to Nottingham Forest’s ground – winning three and drawing three – although few Magpies fans need reminding of Wood’s haunting hat-trick at his old St James’ Park home last season.
Leave a Reply