Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Fulham - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest welcome Fulham to the City Ground on Sunday afternoon for their latest instalment of Premier League action.

Forest came from behind twice to draw 2-2 away to Manchester City in their previous league outing, while the Cottagers were beaten 1-0 at home by West Ham United.

Match preview

Winless in their previous six Premier League matches, Nottingham Forest have seen their buffer to the relegation zone diminish in recent weeks.

Despite picking up an unexpected point away to Manchester City last week, Vitor Pereira’s men are now only outside of the bottom three on goal difference, with West Ham picking up a crucial win away to Fulham that same evening.

Still involved in the UEFA Europa League, although they travel to Denmark next week to face FC Midtjylland with a one goal deficit, Forest look set to have a congested fixture list for the remainder of the season compared to their closest competitors.

If they want to begin the final stretch in the right fashion, Pereira’s side will also have to overcome one of their bogey sides this weekend in the form of Fulham, who they have lost each of their previous three encounters against.

Since gaining promotion from the Championship in 2022, Forest have lost six of their seven Premier League matches against Fulham, with their single victory being a 3-1 win at the City Ground in April 2024.

After consecutive league wins, Fulham’s ambitions for European qualification took a hit last week as they lost 1-0 to West Ham at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva’s men currently sit 10th in the Premier League table with nine matches to play and are four points behind Brentford in seventh place, which is likely to earn qualification to next season’s UEFA Conference League.

Bowing out of the FA Cup at home to Southampton last weekend, the Cottagers can now put their focus solely into league performances, which have been relatively patchy recently.

Following a six game unbeaten run over the turn of the year, Fulham have only won two of their previous six league matches, losing all of the remaining four and have seen their rise up the table stagnate over that period.

However, having beaten Forest 1-0 earlier in the season courtesy of a Raul Jimenez first half penalty, the visitors will be confident they can resume their European push on Sunday ahead of difficult upcoming league trips to the likes of Liverpool, Brentford and Arsenal.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Fulham Premier League form:

Fulham form (all competitions):

Team News

Forest will be without John Victor and Nicolo Savona for the remainder of the season as they both recover from knee injuries.

Last season's top scorer Chris Wood is set to return within the next month after also missing the majority of the campaign with a knee problem, while there is no return date for Willy Boly who is experiencing trouble in the same area.

Stefan Ortega, Dan Ndoye and Jair Cunha are all likely to be welcomed back to the squad within the coming weeks.

Fulham currently have only two players recorded as doubts for Sunday's match, one of which is Brazilian winger Kevin who is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury.

There is a split chance that Cottagers top scorer Harry Wilson will be available for the trip to Forest, having missed the previous two matches with an ankle problem.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Morato, Milenkovic, Murillo; Aina, Sangare, Anderson, Williams; Dominguez, Gibbs-White; Igor Jesus

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Sessegnon; Berge, Iwobi; Chukwueze, Smith Rowe, Bobb; Jimenez

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Fulham

As the pressure continues to ramp on Tottenham Hotspur, who are only one point above the drop, we can see the teams around them picking up some confidence as we approach a nervy run in for the sides near the bottom.

Forest will no doubt be disappointed by their result in the week, however we are backing them to bounce back against Fulham and claim three crucial points in their bid for survival.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.