Nottingham Forest-Fulham is a match valid for the eighth day of the Premier League and is played on Friday at 9pm
A clash between neo-promoters who are experiencing two almost diametrically opposed moments. Nottingham Forest, despite 21 signings in the last transfer window – an absolute record for the English top flight – have not managed to overturn the hierarchy. As it had already shown in the last Championship – which was substantially dominated – Fulham still have something more than the Garibaldi Reds, who instead only won promotion in the playoffs. The Londoners may have done less business, but so far they have had a positive impact with the new category.
Lacking Portuguese Marco Silva, the Bianconeri took advantage of the magical moment of Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, which shows no sign of ending. Six goals in six matches for the top scorer of the last cadet championship, an authentic sentence in goal. It is largely thanks to him that Fulham now occupy tenth place in the table, keeping them well clear of the relegation zone. The Cottagers have held their own against Arsenal and Tottenham in their last two away fixtures – losing 2-1 in both cases – while at home they are not missing a beat: after the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the opener, they won against Brentford and Brighton, beaten 3-2 and 2-1 respectively.
More complicated start instead for Nottingham Forest. Steve Cooper’s men have four points less than Fulham and come from three consecutive defeats. The one that hurt the most was undoubtedly the last, in the direct clash with the other newly promoted Bournemouth: after finishing the first half ahead 2-0, Awoniyi and his team-mates crumbled under the blows of the Cherries, who came away with three precious points from the City Ground.
Colback
The Prediction
This is going to be a spectacular match at Craven Cottage, between two teams who like to play openly and have invested heavily to avoid finding themselves back in the Championship after regaining the top flight. A draw cannot be ruled out in a match in which both sides are expected to score.
The likely line-ups for Nottingham Forest-Fulham
- NOTTINGHAM FOREST (3-4-1-2): Henderson; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Williams, Yates, Kouyate, Lodi; Gibbs-White; Awoniyi, Johnson.
- FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Mbabu; Reed, Palhinha; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Kebano; Mitrovic.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
