Nott'm Forest v Southampton preview: Relegation looms for Saints
Nottingham Forest play host and they have the opportunity to close the gap to safety by completing a first top-flight league double over Southampton since 1995/96, after winning 1-0 at St Mary’s earlier in the campaign.
Ending a 13-game run of league games without a clean sheet may be crucial in realising that goal (W1, D3, L9), though doing just that seems more likely to come at home where Forest have picked up 80% of their points.
That’s the greatest disparity in points gained at home or away in the division, while further confidence comes from the fact that Forest have kept clean sheets in three of their four home games against sides ranked 15th or worse ahead of the weekend (W3, D1).
The Championship beckons for Southampton, who remain cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
Saints boss Rubén Sellés vowed that his men will “fight until the end” after their latest 3-1 defeat at Newcastle extended their winless run to nine games (D3, L6), although this match has an air of ‘now or never’ about it with tougher fixtures coming up.
Southampton’s away form across their last eight trips doesn’t make for very pleasant reading (W1, D2, L5), although they may take inspiration from their opponents, whose only away league win all season came against the Saints.
Coincidences aside, another case of the Monday blues could be imminent with Southampton losing each of their last three PL games to be played on this weekday.
Players to watch: Taiwo Awoniyi was the only scorer in the reverse H2H and he also assisted in Forest’s sole victory across the previous 13 rounds. As for Southampton, dead-ball specialist James Ward-Prowse scored one of his trademark goals to secure their only away win since January, with four of his last six goals now coming from direct free-kicks.
Hot streak: It’s not just Southampton and the Boomtown Rats who don’t like Mondays, as Forest are winless in each of their last 12 PL games played on this day (D7, L5), despite getting on the scoresheet in seven of the last eight.
