Our Focus turns to The City Ground as 4th meets 5th in what could potentially be a dress rehearsal of the playoffs…
Head to Head
- Fulham Wins – 40
- Draws – 28
- N.Forest Wins – 31
- Goals For – 150
- Goals Against – 136
- Biggest Wins – Forest 7-0 Fulham (1927/28), Fulham 6-0 Forest (1935/36)
Last 5 Games
- Fulham 1-2 N.Forest
- Fulham 2-0 N.Forest
- N.Forest 1-3 Fulham
- Fulham 3-2 N.Forest
- N.Forest 1-1 Fulham
Last Time Out
Fulham 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Frustrating is the word that springs to mind as time-wasting took centre stage for this encounter. Forest’s early opener from Lewis Grabban allowed Goalkeeper Brice Samba to take the sting out of the game at every opportunity.
Grabban doubled their lead in the second half before Mitrović provided a little bit of hope as we approached 8 minutes of stoppage time. But this one was to end in defeat, a complete contrast to the thumping of Millwall three days earlier…
Players in Common
Tony Barton, Dave Beasant, Andy Cole, Stan Collymore, Mark Crossley, Danny Cullip, Ashkan Dejagah, Roy Dwight, Jonathan Greening, Pajtim Kasami, Paul Konchesky, Ross McCormack & Andy Melville.
Score Predictions
Fulham View: Russ Goldman (Cottage Talk Podcast)
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham
N.Forest View: DoreOnTour (YouTube Channel)
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Fulham
Former Player: Darren Freeman
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Fulham
Battle to Watch
Ivan Cavaleiro vs Matty Cash
Matty Cash has been one of Forest’s Players of the Season this campaign. He is a versatile and quick full-back who loves to get forward. Despite playing in defence Cash has got himself three goals and five assists so he is clearly going to have to be kept tabs on when Forest are on the attack. He also is very solid defensively and good in the tackle. Ivan Cavaleiro will need to have a good game to get the better of Cash as well as tracking back when the full-back gets forward.
Sam’s View (@SamCole2468)
Fulham do like to leave it late don’t they! Two wins on the bounce and we finally have a small bit of momentum going into this crucial game against Forest. Despite neither performance being convincing, at least we have shown that we can grind out a win which may be the case again here. Forest have been brilliant this season under Lamouchi but a draw against Derby showed that they can be vulnerable. This game will be the last of Mitro’s ban so hopefully, we can introduce him back into the team on the back of a three-match winning run.
I would keep the team selection largely the same for this fixture, only making one change from the Birmingham game. That would be in midfield, replacing Arter with last games match-winner Josh Onomah. Josh deserves a start after that goal and he will bring some energy into midfield which at the moment is somewhat lacking. If Arter starts again we can only assume that Parker is playing him to keep the family happy…
We should keep our 4-2-3-1 formation with Cavaleiro on the left, Knockaert on the right and Decordova-Reid up front. Hopefully, we won’t try playing long balls to him against Forest. With that lack of physical presence up top, it’s important we keep the ball on the floor and craft openings with our movement, pace and technical ability.
I can see this one being a draw. 1-1 with a long-overdue goal for Anthony Knockaert. The Frenchman certainly needs a confidence boost and hopefully, this game will provide it.
