Nottingham Forest vs Southampton

Ironically, only 35 points apart in the mid-season Premier League standings, the real bona-fide championship contenders Nottingham Forest and the whipping boys of the season Southampton are set for a Sunday fright at the City Ground.

Espirito Santo’s men were content with earning a deserved point against Liverpool on Tuesday in the 1-1 draw, before the Saints’ demise at the hands of Manchester United two days later, 3-1. Nottingham Forest against Liverpool was always a top-of-the-table look back in the 1970s and 1980s and is not a big surprise to see both the red sided outfits vying for the title in 2024-25 Thursday night’s encounter suggested as much.

Chris Wood drinks tea in eight minutes the 13th goal in the Premier League season, and the Tricky Trees are defeated by completing a first corner after the left-footed jump, which fell in the head of Diogo Jota, making a first touch equaliser for Liverpool. A rare Premier League loss could have also come Forest’s way if not for heroics of Matz Sels and Murillo at the back but Tuesday’s draw – breaking their seven-game winless streak – only put them temporarily into second place in the table before Arsenal went ahead of them.

Moreover, that one point from the midweek draw against Liverpool means that Forest have accrued more points than any other Premier League team since the start of December - 19 out of a potential 24 - while the equaliser was the first goal that Mark Santo’s team had conceded since they had enjoyed 270 minutes on the pitch.

Southampton fans might have felt justified in hoping for a win as Ivan Juric’s side battled hard at Old Trafford. However, once again this season, Amad Diallo played the villain, scoring an incredible 12-minute hat-trick that dashed Southampton’s dreams of securing just their second Premier League victory of the season.

Despite leaving with no points, the Saints could hold their heads high after putting up a strong fight on such challenging ground. Even with a win, they would have remained at the bottom of the table, still chasing that elusive form.

With a hefty 10-point gap between them and 17th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, Juric’s task of keeping them up looks tougher by the week. To make matters worse, Southampton is still without a single away win this season, remaining the only team in the Premier League with that unfortunate record.

Things aren’t looking much better on the home front either, as Southampton has lost their last three matches against Nottingham Forest. Their last victory over the Tricky Trees dates all the way back to 2012 when Morgan Schneiderlin found the back of the net in a Championship encounter.

Danilo made his long-awaited return from an ankle injury during the recent FA Cup win over Luton Town, but he didn’t make the squad for the upcoming match against Liverpool. There’s no indication that he has any new issues, though.

For Sunday’s game, the only player missing for the hosts will be Ibrahim Sangare, who’s still dealing with a hamstring problem that’s expected to keep him sidelined for another month. This leaves manager Santo with plenty of options to shuffle the lineup as needed.

However, it’s likely that Santo won’t want to change much after the successful midweek performance, so James Ward-Prowse, a familiar face from his Southampton days, will likely have to settle for a place on the bench for a chance to face his former club.

On the Southampton side, rising star Tyler Dibling had to be subbed off after an hour on Thursday night due to an ankle injury, putting his availability for Sunday’s match in serious doubt.

Jack Stephens (unspecified injury) and Ross Stewart (calf) are also out for Juric’s squad. In Dibling’s absence against Manchester United, Will Smallbone came on, though his side was more focused on holding onto a 1-0 lead than making further attacking moves.