Chelsea look to clinch consecutive Premier League wins as they take on Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
Victory would see Chelsea potentially move into the top six, whilst Forest can leapfrog their hosts with a win and possibly enter the top ten depending upon results elsewhere.
Team News
Mykhailo Mudryk could return for Chelsea if he passes a late fitness test after a knock sidelined him in recent weeks.
Marcus Bettinelli (unspecified), Carney Chukwuemeka, Christopher Nkunku, Armando Broja (both knee), Romeo Lavia (fitness), Benoit Badiashile (groin), Trevoh Chalobah (Achilles), Reece James (hamstring) and Wesley Fofana (ACL) remain ruled out.
Forest will welcome Joe Worrall back into contention after he missed their midweek Carabao Cup defeat against Burnley, due to suspension following a red card in last weekend’s defeat to Manchester United.
Danilo (hamstring) is a doubt but Wayne Hennessey (knee), Orel Mangala (unspecified) and Scott McKenna (hamstring) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Nottingham Forest in a 3pm BST kick-off at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 2 September, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have lost one of their last eight top-flight meetings against Forest (W3, D4, L1).
- Forest are unbeaten in four of six Premier League visits to Chelsea (W1, D3, L2).
- Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling scored three goals in two appearances against Forest last season (D2).
- Raheem Sterling is the only Chelsea player to score more than one goal in their opening three league games of the season (2).
- Serge Aurier has had more touches than any other Forest player in their opening three league matchs of this season (166).
Prediction
After their hammering at West Ham a fortnight ago, Chelsea finally seemed to click into gear with a ruthless high-energy win against Luton but the Hatters did make the task fairly easy with a lacklustre display.
This game however will provide a proper insight into whether that performance was down to the quality difference, because Forest will certainly give Chelsea a much harder test than Luton managed to last weekend.
Forest meanwhile will be disappointed to have not got a draw at minimum at Man Utd because the winning penalty that they conceded was harsh, yet they simply failed to stretch their lead when on top after a clinical opening few minutes and Utd were more clinical.
This clash therefore should be a fun battle between two solid teams with potential but Forest really need to sort out their away rut, because if they play like they did last weekend but defend tighter then I can see them snatching a draw this time.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Result: Chelsea 0-1 Nottingham Forest
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