Preview: West Ham United vs Nottingham Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest could hammer another nail into Nuno Espirito Santo's West Ham United coffin when they reunite with their former boss in Tuesday's Premier League showdown at the London Stadium.

The Irons became Wolverhampton Wanderers' first top-flight victims of the 2025-26 season at the weekend, while the Tricky Trees were no match for title-chasing Aston Villa.

Match preview

At risk of back-to-back humiliations against former teams, ex-Wolves and Forest head coach Santo could very well be handed his P45 after Tuesday's showdown, if the basement battle goes as pear-shaped as his trip to Molineux.

Squaring up to a Wolves side with just three points on the board all season long, the former Conference League champions put in a dreadful display that Santo could only describe as "embarrassing" after his side were slain 3-0 by the Mateus Mane-inspired Old Gold.

Amid reports of erstwhile Hammers head coach Slaven Bilic opening the door to a return to the London Stadium, Santo is just about clinging onto his position for the time being, but the statistics are particularly damning for the Portuguese.

The 18th-placed hosts will remain in the relegation zone no matter what transpires this week, and they have now gone nine Premier League games without a win since edging out Burnley in November, losing four of their last five.

Furthermore, no other manager in the league is on a longer run without a clean sheet than Santo (26 games), and the Irons are still waiting for their first top-flight shut-out of the season at home, where they have already let in a whopping 23 efforts this term.

Forest's situation may not be so dire, but after Sean Dyche appeared to steady the ship at the City Ground, the Garibaldi have now lost four on the spin during a frightening festive period.

Tuesday's visitors ended 2025 with a trio of consecutive defeats to Fulham, Manchester City and Everton, and as expected, Unai Emery's Aston Villa proved a class above at their Villa Park fortress in Saturday's lunchtime kickoff.

Ollie Watkins's rocket and John McGinn's double - partially aided by John Victor inexplicably going walkabouts - propelled the Lions to a convincing 3-1 win over the Tricky Trees, although Dyche's men cannot drop into the bottom three in gameweek 21.

However, Nottingham Forest have now endured their joint-longest losing run of the campaign and could also now suffer four straight losses on the road, where they have already failed to score in five Premier League games in 2025-26.

The Tricky Trees memorably suffered a 3-0 humbling at home to West Ham in August when Santo was in charge, but Forest had prevailed in three straight meetings with the Irons beforehand, including a 2-1 London Stadium success in May.

West Ham United Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Team News

West Ham left Molineux battered and bruised on the psychological front, but the Irons at least picked up no fresh injury concerns and had new striker Pablo Felipe on the bench following his arrival from Gil Vicente.

However, neither Lucas Paqueta (back) nor Jean-Clair Todibo (groin) were involved, so both will need close assessment before Tuesday's game, while El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are still away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Midfield starters Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts were both withdrawn at half time against Wolves, so Tomas Soucek can surely expect to replace at least one of the pair after Saturday's disastrous showing.

On Forest's end, a nightmare afternoon for new number one Victor saw the tearful Brazilian come off with a suspected calf injury after his error for McGinn's second goal, although Dyche is still not sure of the severity of his concern.

Regardless, Matz Sels will surely win his place back in between the posts for Tuesday's game, which Callum Hudson-Odoi (knock) and Dan Ndoye (calf) are both touch-and-go for.

Chris Wood (knee), Ryan Yates (thigh), Willy Boly (AFCON) and Ibrahim Sangare (AFCON) will not be involved for the visitors, and nor should Arnaud Kalimuendo, who is on the verge of joining Eintracht Frankfurt.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Julio, Scarles; Soucek, Potts; Bowen, Fernandes, Summerville; Wilson

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

We say: West Ham United 1-2 Nottingham Forest

Few West Ham fans should be looking to August's City Ground win for inspiration; much like Santo's Forest that day, Santo's Irons are now lacking in identity, stability and confidence - another recipe for disaster.

The hosts are simply incapable of keeping the back door shut at home, and even a goal-shy Forest side should capitalise on West Ham's defensive vulnerabilities to return to victorious ways and potentially push Santo closer to the exit door.

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