Premier League | Gameweek 24

Feb 1, 2025 at 12.30pm UK

The City Ground

Nott'm Forest vs Brighton

Match preview

A thrilling match between two of the Premier League's surprise packages was on the cards last weekend, and no one was likely to be surprised to hear that five goals flew into the back of the Vitality Stadium nets when Forest and Bournemouth faced off.

But even the most die-hard Cherries fan wouldn't have bet on their team scoring five without reply at the Vitality Stadium. Dango Ouattara was the star of the show with a hat-trick, while Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo also found the back of the net against Matz Sels.

Forest's awful away day came just as people were starting to think they could realistically be contenders for the Premier League title. But Santo's third-placed team are not mathematically out of the running just yet, even if Liverpool are now nine points ahead with a game in hand.

Getting into the top four and getting some Champions League football at the City Ground would be a great achievement for the Tricky Trees, whose loss in gameweek 23 ended their nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions, but home is still where the heart is.

The Garibaldi have won five and drawn one of their last six games in front of their City Ground fans, only losing to Liverpool in that time. They've only been beaten twice in a row once in the current Premier League season.

Also feeling the pinch after their unbeaten run came to an end, Brighton were set to make it eight games without a defeat in all competitions when Everton turned up at the Amex last weekend, but the match ended in frustration and fury for Fabian Hurzeler's men.

An Iliman Ndiaye spot kick in the last few minutes of the first half did the trick for Moyes's men, who then got caught up in post-match scuffles as tempers boiled over for Brighton at the end of the game. But it wasn't as bad as the post-match fracas with Saturday's opponents Forest a few months ago.

Even so, the Seagulls are still in with a chance of making it to Europe, sitting ninth in the mid-season rankings, six points behind the top six. After being held to a draw at home, the away day is just what the doctor ordered for Saturday's visitors.

They've won each of their last three away games, including an impressive FA Cup win against Norwich City, and they've been unbeaten in six away games. What's more, Hurzeler's team has scored in every single away game this season, which means they've scored in 14 out of 15 matches outside of their Amex base.

The City Ground was also where Brighton won 3-2 last season, but Forest got a point from the 2-2 draw in September, which saw both head coaches and Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White sent off in the last few minutes.

Recent Performance

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:WWWDWL

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):WWWDWL

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:DDDWWL

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):DDWWWL

Team News

It doesn't make excuses for Forest's terrible performance in Bournemouth, but the Tricky Trees were still a bit affected by Callum Hudson-Odoi's groin injury, and fans are desperate to hear whether he'll be fit to play on Saturday.

Hudson-Odoi hasn't been ruled out just yet, and he'd definitely fill in for Jota Silva if he was given the go-ahead. But Ibrahim Sangare, who's been out with his hamstring injury, is probably going to be out of action too.

Santo shouldn't be making big changes to his starting lineup, even though last weekend's performance was pretty poor. But as captain Ryan Yates only lasted until half time at the Vitality, we can expect Nicolas Dominguez to be recalled.

As for Brighton, the Seagulls didn't suffer any fresh fitness problems in their narrow loss to Everton, but Pervis Estupinan was surprisingly absent with an unexplained issue, one that Hurzeler hasn't shed more light on yet.

While there's no update on the left-back yet, Brighton will definitely be without Jason Steele (shoulder), Igor Julio (hamstring), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), James Milner (thigh), Mats Wieffer (thigh), Solly March (muscle) and Evan Ferguson, who could leave on loan before deadline day anyway.

Hurzeler was also not afraid to make a half-time change last time, swapping Brajan Gruda for Georginio Rutter, one of three attackers vying for a recall on Saturday alongside Simon Adingra and Yankuba Minteh.

Possible starting lineup

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

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

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Lamptey; Baleba, Hinshelwood; Minteh, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck