Nottingham Forest look to continue their strong start to the season against a winless West Ham.
Victory will lift Forest up to second, whilst West Ham can move out of the relegation zone with a win.
Team News
Forest have no fresh injury concerns to report with only Nicolas Dominguez ruled out.
West Ham’s new signing, Matheus Fernandes is available for selection after his transfer was completed in time ahead of the player registration deadline.
Soungoutou Magassa however is ineligible after his transfer wasn’t completed prior to the deadline for player registration ahead of this weekend’s action.
George Earthy (ankle) is a doubt but Luis Guilherme (shoulder) and Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest host West Ham at the City Ground on on Sunday 31 August at 2pm BST, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest have won four of their last six meetings against West Ham (W4, L2).
- West Ham are winless in their last four Premier League trips to Forest (D1, L3), during which they failed to score any goals.
- Callum Hudson-Odoi scored in both of Forest’s last two home games against West Ham (W2).
- In Forest’s opening two games of the season, Ola Aina, Elliott Anderson and Neco Williams all won 13 duels each.
- Lucas Paqueta has scored in each of West Ham’s last two matches in all competitions (L2).
Prediction
Unlike their dominant opener against Brentford, Forest certainly endured a tougher test in their 1-1 draw at Palace which wasn’t surprising given how close that fixture is, so I do feel like they will be able to play a more high-intensity style here given West Ham’s defensive fragility.
Graham Potter’s Hammers though will be riled up for this game after they blew a 2-1 lead in their Carabao Cup exit at Wolves, which raises more concern about how Potter can stop the defensive rot with signs of motivational issues and fractures within the defence.
The first goal is therefore crucial and I just don’t see Forest losing this on current form.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-0 West Ham
Result: Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham