Nottingham Forest continue their fight for Premier League survival against Newcastle United at the City Ground.
Victory would see Forest move up to 14th in the table if Brentford fail to triumph over Wolves at Molineux.
A win would see Newcastle move up to seventh if Brighton fail to beat Tottenham in the mid-afternoon kick-off.
Team News
Gonzalo Montiel is ruled out for Forest after he suffered a hamstring injury during their FA Cup win over Bristol City on penalties in midweek, following a 1-1 draw.
Morgan Gibbs White (knock) is a doubt but Chris Wood (hamstring) is still sidelined.
Matz Sels, Gio Reyna and Rodrigo Ribeiro were ineligible for the midweek game, whilst Ryan Yates and Nicolas Dominguez were suspended but the quintent are all available for selection.
Ola Aina, Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are still all away on international duty at Africa Cup of Nations after Nigeria and Ivory Coast reached the Final.
Newcastle will be without Anthony Gordon after he suffered an ankle injury during their 4-4 draw at home to Luton.
Jamaal Lascelles (calf) could feature but Elliott Anderson (back), Matt Targett (hamstring), Nick Pope (shoulder), Sandro Tonali (suspension), Joelinton (quad), Joe Willock (Achilles) and Alexander Isak (groin) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest host Newcastle at the City Ground on Saturday 10 February at 5:30pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest have won just one of their 11 previous Premier League meetings against Newcastle (W1, D3, L7).
- Newcastle are unbeaten in five previous Premier Lague trips to Forest’s City Ground (W2, D3).
- Alexander Isak has scored each of Newcastle’s last three goals against Forest (W1, L1).
- All five league goals scored at home under Nuno Espirito Santo have been scored by a different player – Anthony Elanga, Chris Wood, Nicolas Dominguez, Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi.
- Coming into this matchweek, Newcastle’s Fabian Schar has made more blocks than any other international player – with 26 blocks in 23 appearances.
Prediction
After their FA Cup extertions in midweek, it is hard to call how much energy Forest will have within them but they have scored in nine of their 10 games under Espirito Santo, which shows that they are a dangerous team but they really need to score before fatigue hits in the second half.
Newcastle meanwhile do look to have turned a corner in terms of their attacking intensity and end product, yet Luton exposed how sloppy their defending can still be in a classic thriller last weekend so a tighter back line will be important if they want to push for Europa qualification.
I however do expect Eddie Howe’s Magpis to be wary of Forest who realistically need the first goal given how much energy they exerted in midweek, because if they can soak up the pressure and wear Forest down before striking then I can see them taking another away win.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Newcastle United
Result: Nottingham Forest 2-3 Newcastle United
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