Nottingham Forest host Chelsea in a final-day showdown in the race for the top five as 2024-25 Premier League concludes.
Victory would see Forest secure Champions League qualification if Aston Villa or Newcastle lose elsewhere.
Chelsea will qualify for the Champions League with a win although a draw would be enough if Villa fail to beat Manchester United or Newcastle lose to Everton.
Team News
Murillo is a doubt for Forest after he suffered an ankle injury during their 2-1 win at West Ham last weekend, despite having gone on to complete the entire match.
Eric da Silva Moreira (knock) and Taiwo Awoniyi (intestine) remain absent.
Chelsea will welcome Jadon Sancho back after he was ineligible to feature in their win over his parent club – Manchester United last weekend.
Christopher Nkunku (knock) and Marc Guiu (hamstring) are both doubts and subject to fitness checks.
Nicolas Jackson (suspension), Wesley Fofana (muscle), Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension), Aaron Anselmino and Omari Kellyman (both hamstring) are still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest host Chelsea at the City Ground on Sunday 25 May at 4pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest have avoided defeat in four of their last five meetings against Chelsea (W1, D3, L1).
- Chelsea have lost two of their seven previous Premier League trips to Forest (W3, D2, L2).
- Raheem Sterling has scored in each of Chelsea’s last two visits to Forest (W1, D1), but he is unavailable for this game as he is currently on loan at Arsenal.
- Morgan Gibbs-White has scored in Forest’s last two matches (W1, D1).
- Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez has made more sweeper clearances this season than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League (44).
Prediction
Still in with an outside chance at the top-five and needing a win plus luck to go their way, Forest simply must focus on this game and try to be as clinical as they were at West Ham where their pace and press proved key to the win.
Chelsea meanwhile probably wished that they had wrapped up a top-five spot sooner given their position at Xmas as they now have to win this and bring better quality than in their win over Man Utd, yet there is a selection headache as there will surely be one eye on the UEFA Conference League Final on Wednesday 28 May.
My instinct is that Chelsea will try and kill this game off early but if Forest can defensively dig in, I can see them doing a smash-and-grab to put their destiny into the hands of Villa and Newcastle.
Prediction: Forest 1-0 Chelsea
Result: Forest 1-0 Chelsea
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