Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Brighton & Hove Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the City Ground for their Premier League clash on Sunday, November 30.

Both sides currently have different ambitions, with the hosts trying to climb away from the relegation zone, while the visitors are searching for a spot in Europe.

Match preview

From finishing seventh in the Premier League last season and missing out on Europe by a mere two points to occupying a relegation spot this term, a lot has changed at Forest.

The East Midlands outfit have been playing manager roulette this season, after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked, only to be replaced by Ange Postecoglou, who was in charge for only eight matches.

However, owner Evangelos Marinakis finally settled on bringing Sean Dyche to the club, and he has enjoyed relative success since then.

Dyche found the Tricky Trees 18th on the Premier League table, and his reign did not have the best start, after he was handed a 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth.

Remarkably, that was the club’s only loss since the former Burnley and Everton boss jumped into the hot seat, as they have won four of the seven games Dyche has overseen (57%).

Forest are currently comfortable in 16th and have registered three wins in a row in all competitions, beating Malmo in the Europa League on Thursday, and they are now undefeated in their last five matches ahead of Brighton’s visit.

Last season, the hosts absolutely humiliated the Seagulls with a 7-0 annihilation at the City Ground, and while it may not be the case this time around, three points are all the home fans need.

Brighton are looking toward the top of the table, as the Seagulls enter this gameweek in sixth position, only two points outside of the top four.

Defeats to Manchester United in the league and Arsenal in the EFL Cup blemish what could have been an unbeaten 10 games in a row in all competitions.

Fabian Hurzeler’s men are in decent form, beating Brentford at home last week to make it three games in a row without tasting defeat.

The visitors will want to avoid a repeat of last season’s visit, but rather relive the 3-2 win they enjoyed at this venue during the 2022-23 campaign.

Perhaps the away form of the coastal side is a concern, as they have not won a single away date since the end of September, stringing together four games without earning maximum points.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Team News

The hosts have a fairly long injury list, with Ola Aina and Douglas Luiz both battling hamstring issues, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is nursing a groin strain and Chris Wood is still recovering from a knee problem.

Morgan Gibbs-White sat out the midweek match, so there is doubt over whether he will make the starting XI on Sunday, while Murillo played 74 minutes against Malmo before he had to be taken off, which could have been a precautionary measure.

For the visitors, Adam Webster, Solly March, James Milner and Kaoru Mitoma will not make the trip to Forest, but the latter two should return before Christmas.

Striker Danny Welbeck will no doubt be crucial for the Seagulls, as he leads the scoring charts for the club in the Premier League with seven goals from 12 games.

Meanwhile, Diego Gomez has been the go-to man for Hurzeler in cup competitions, after bagging five goals in three of those matches, so he will certainly be additional help for Welbeck.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Ndoye, McAtee, Dominguez; Igor Jesus

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Wieffer, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu; Baleba, Ayari; Minteh, Rutter, Gomez; Welbeck