Fresh from their heavy five-goal thumping by Fulham, Nottingham Forest travel to Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts, meanwhile, enter this contest seeking to win back-to-back top-flight matches for the first time this season after beating Burnley in midweek.
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Following a run of three defeats in four, all by a just a one-goal margin, Wolves managed to grind out a much-needed 1-0 victory against strugglers Burnley on Tuesday night, courtesy of yet another goal from in-form attacker Hwang Hee-chan.
The South Korean slotted home his eighth league goal of the season on the stroke of half time to help Gary O’Neil‘s men claim a “massive win” at Molineux – only Erling Haaland (14), Mohamed Salah (10) and international teammate Son Heung-min (nine) have scored more Premier League goals than Wolves’ No.11 so far this season.
Sitting 13th in the table, Wolves will not be looking over their shoulders any time soon as they are currently positioned 11 points clear of the relegation zone, while a victory on Saturday could see them climb into the top half and move level on points with ninth-placed West Ham United, who they will face at the London Stadium next week.
Not only did Wolves keep their first clean sheet since August in the win over Burnley, but they also extended their unbeaten run at Molineux to five matches; the last time that Wolves boasted an unbeaten home run of six games in the top flight was between January and August 2019 when they went 10 successive home fixtures without defeat.
Wolves have reason to be optimistic of claiming another positive result on Saturday as they have only lost one of their last 11 meetings with Nottingham Forest across all competitions – a 2-0 home defeat in January 2018 when both sides were competing in the Championship.
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Since claiming an impressive 2-0 home win over high-flying Aston Villa on November 5, Nottingham Forest have lost each of their last four Premier League matches and have conceded 12 goals in the process, five of which were shipped during a dismal defensive display at Fulham on Wednesday night.
Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez both netted braces for the Cottagers before Tom Cairney got his name on the scoresheet to rub salt into Forest’s wounds and condemn Steve Cooper‘s side to their heaviest defeat of 2023.
The pressure is now mounting on Cooper’s shoulders and he is allegedly hanging onto his Forest job by a threat following a disappointing run of just one victory in the last 11 games. The Tricky Trees have sleepwalked into a relegation battle as they have slipped down to 16th in the table and only sit six points clear of Everton in 18th place.
Only basement club Sheffield United have picked up fewer Premier League points (one) and conceded more goals (20) away from home than Forest (four points and 18 conceded) so far this season. The Tricky Trees have in fact won just two of their 20 away fixtures across all competitions in 2023 – beating Southampton and Chelsea by 1-0 scorelines in January and September respectively.
Forest, who have only won one of their last six top-flight meetings with Wolves, can ill-afford to drop more points on Saturday as they soon embark on a challenging festive schedule that includes games against Tottenham, Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Manchester United over a three-week period.
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Wolves are still having to cope without Pedro Neto (thigh) and Joe Hodge (shoulder) due to injury, while Jonny Castro has been banished from first-team training until January following a “training ground incident”.
Rayan Ait Nouri has an outside chance of returning from an ankle issue this weekend, while goalkeeper Jose Sa is available for selection after missing the last two matches with a lower back problem, and the Portuguese is expected to replace Dan Bentley between the sticks.
O’Neil may stick with the majority of the side that beat Burnley, but the likes of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Boubacar Traore and Tommy Doyle will be pushing to start in midfield after beginning on the substitutes’ bench last time out.
As for Nottingham Forest, Taiwo Awoniyi is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a groin injury, while former Wolves defender Willy Boly missed the midweek defeat at Fulham with a hip problem and will not be involved on Saturday.
Danilo recovered from illness to feature as a substitute against Fulham, and the Brazilian midfielder will be hoping to force his way into the first XI at the expense of either Nicolas Dominguez or Orel Mangala.
Moussa Niakhate, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood will all be pushing to start after beginning as substitutes in midweek, and the latter two could replace Callum Hudson-Odoi and Divock Origi in attack.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Dawson, Kilman, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Bellegarde, H. Bueno; Cunha, Hwang
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Aina, Felipe, Murillo, Toffolo; Mangala, Sangare, Danilo; Elanga, Gibbs-White; Wood
Wolves have already picked up points against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United on home soil this season and they will be confident of securing another victory against a deflated Forest outfit, who are desperate to stop the rot and avoid slipping closer towards the danger zone.
Considering the contrasting form of these two sides and Wolves’ superior record against Forest, we believe that the hosts will find a way to score for the 17th successive game and register another important win, piling more pressure on Cooper’s side in the process.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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