Premier League | Gameweek 22

Jan 19, 2025 at 2pm UK

The City Ground

Nott'm Forest vs Southampton

Match preview

Back in the 70s and 80s, it might not have been that surprising to see Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at the top of the table. But now, these two teams, who always wear red, are some of the main contenders for glory in the 2024-25 season. Their recent midweek match was a good example of this.

Chris Wood scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season in just eight minutes, but Forest then conceded an unexpected goal to Liverpool. Kostas Tsimikas's corner deflected off Diogo Jota's head and into the net.

If it hadn't been for the great saves from Matz Sels and Murillo in defence, Forest might have lost too. Tuesday's draw ended their seven-game winless run, but they're still second in the league, though Arsenal have overtaken them again.

Also, Forest have got more points than any other Premier League team since the start of December, with 19 from 24. Jota's goal was the first one they'd let in in over seven hours of football.

On the other hand, Forest have scored in the first goal in 17 different Premier League games this season, which is the most in the league. Only Fulham have stopped Forest from scoring at home in 2024-25 so far.

Talking of scoring first, Southampton's gutsy first-half display at Old Trafford was rewarded when Manuel Ugarte turned the ball past his own goalkeeper, who was the only reason that Man United did not go into half-time even further behind.

Won't think many Red Devils fans would have complained if Ivan Juric's side had travelled home with all three points, but as usual this season, Amad Diallo broke the opposition's hearts with a sensational 12-minute hat-trick, crushing Southampton's hopes of just a second Premier League victory of the campaign.

While the Saints couldn't pick up any points at the Theatre of Dreams, they could take some heart from their performance on home turf, and even if they'd won on Wednesday, they would've stayed bottom of the division.

With 10 points between them and Santo's old club Wolverhampton Wanderers in 17th place, it looks like Juric's job is going to be a bit of a challenge. The visitors are the only team in the top flight who haven't won away this season.

To make matters worse, Southampton have come out on the wrong end of the scoreline in each of their last three games against Nottingham Forest and have not got the better of the Tricky Trees since a Championship clash in 2012, where Morgan Schneiderlin was among the Saints scorers.

Recent Performance

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:WWWWWD

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):WWWWWD

Southampton Premier League form:LDLLLL

Southampton form (all competitions):DLLLWL

Team News

Danilo made his return from a long-term ankle injury in the recent FA Cup win over Luton Town, but he didn't make the matchday squad for the big match with Liverpool. There's no suggestion that he's picked up a new injury.

So, the only one who won't be there for Sunday's match is Ibrahim Sangare, whose hamstring issue won't be better in a month. That gives Santo lots of options for changes again.

But the Forest boss probably won't want to change the midweek formula, so James Ward-Prowse can only hope to play some minutes off the bench against his old club.

Meanwhile, Southampton's very own wonderkid Tyler Dibling had to be subbed off with just over an hour played on Thursday evening owing to an ankle injury, which has thrown his Sunday game participation into severe doubt.

Jack Stephens (unspecified) and Ross Stewart (calf) are also unavailable to Juric, who sent on Will Smallbone to replace Dibling against Man United, albeit while his side were trying to protect a 1-0 lead.

If the Man United-linked attacker can't play in this match, Paul Onuachu, Cameron Archer or Adam Armstrong should link up with Kamaldeen Sulemana in the final third instead.

Possible starting line up

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Ramsdale; Wood, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis; Sugawara, Downes, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters; Fernandes; Onuachu, Sulemana