Nottingham Forest will welcome West Ham United to City Ground this Sunday as both teams battle for three points in the second round of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Venue: City Ground (Nottingham)
Key Statistics
Nottingham Forest have scored an average of three goals per game across their last four competitive home fixtures.
But the hosts have lost their last seven league games (excluding play-offs) played on a Sunday.
They have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven games.
West Ham have won just one of their last eight Premier League away fixtures (D1, L6).
The Hammers have failed to score in three of their last away league games.
David Moyes have never won at the City Ground as a manager, losing once and drawing once.
Head to head
In eight Premier League meetings between both sides, West Ham have four wins while Nottingham Forest have one win.
Latest performances in all competitions
Nottingham Forest: L-D-D-L-W
West Ham: L-D-D-L-W
Nottingham Forest
After over two decades without top-flight football, the City Ground will host its first Premier League game when Nottingham Forest welcome West Ham to town this Sunday.
The hosts endured a poor start to their return to the top-flight as they were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle in round one of the new season.
In a battling performance at St. James’ Park, Newcastle completely dominated the game, outshooting their visitors 33 shots to five while holding 62% of the ball possession. The Magpies made their dominance count courtesy of goals from Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson, while they also restricted Forest to zero shots on target,
Forest coach Steve Cooper whose team played without a focal point for much of the game in the loss against Newcastle as record signing Taiwo Awoniyi came off the bench in the second half will be hoping that his side muster more attacking threat this time around.
The hosts could not muster a shot on target against Newcastle last time out but will be expecting to produce a better attacking result on this ground given that they have scored an average of three goals per game across their last four competitive home fixtures.
Possible Nottingham Forest starting line-up
Dean Henderson; Neco Williams, Joe Worrall, Moussa Niakhate, Scott McKenna, Harry Toffoio; Jack Colback, Jesse Lingard, Lewis O’Brien; Brennan Johnson, Sam Surridge.
Injured: Omar Richards
Doubtful: Ryan Yates
Suspended: None
West Ham United
West Ham will look to move on from their disappointing opening day loss to Manchester City when they travel to Nottingham on Sunday.
In a one-sided game at the London Stadium last weekend, the Hammers were beaten 2-0 by the defending champions, with new signing Erling Haaland scoring both goals. David Moyes’ men struggled to get hold of the ball or get into attacking areas to hurt City, as they ended the game with just 25% possession and one shot on target.
With the quality abounding in Pep Guardiola’s team, they can be forgiven for being very poor last weekend. However, their fans will be expecting a much better performance when they travel to City Ground to face the league newbies.
The Hammers have challenged for the top six in the last two seasons and will be looking to remain within the conversation this season. But an early injury crisis at the back is threatening to derail their season.
So we expect that Moyes will bring in further reinforcements before the windows slam shut while hoping new signing Gianluca Scamacca quickly adapts to English football and starts scoring soon.
Possible West Ham starting line-up
Alphonse Areola; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Benjamin Johnson, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, Jarrod Bowen; Gianluca Scamacca.
Injured: Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson, Lukasz Fabianski
Doubtful: Naif Aguerd, Issa Diop
Suspended: None
Prediction
Nottingham Forest 1-2 West Ham
