Nottingham Forest v Wolves preview: Cooper looks to end winless run
Still, manager Steve Cooper continues to earn plaudits for his work this term and bookmakers listed him as an outsider to succeed Antonio Conte at Tottenham.
Having recently signed a new contract, his focus is keeping Forest in the top-flight and with five home games remaining, he’ll want as many points as possible given their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle was their first here in the PL since mid-September (W4, D5).
Now they welcome Wolves for the latest renewal of a heated rivalry that was first played in 1892; both sides were fined following a melee during January’s League Cup H2H, which Forest won on penalties.
Wolves sitting one point but three places better off than their hosts highlights how tight it is at the bottom, where any three of nine clubs could still go down.
They lost their last two league fixtures and were charged by the FA for remonstrating with officials during the latest of them, a 4-2 defeat to Leeds in which they saw two players sent off.
Manager Julen Lopetegui says he could “make a book” about decisions that have gone against Wolves recently, adding, “I’m not waiting for apologies, I want fairness”.
He’ll therefore hope that come Saturday evening he’s talking about extending his side’s four-match unbeaten streak in league H2Hs here (W3, D1) instead of refereeing decisions.
Players to watch: Emmanuel Dennis netted for Forest against Newcastle with his fifth match-opener in six PL goals while if Wolves’ Matheus Cunha gets on the scoresheet, entertainment could follow as ten of his last 11 goalscoring outings were in games producing over 2.5 goals – including against Leeds.
Hot stat: No side has failed to win more PL home games after scoring first than Forest this term (W5, D2, L3).
