Game week 12 of the Premier league and we have a cracker to look forward too. Midlands team Nottingham Forest head to West London to face the Hammers.
Forest have had a great season so far and are sat just one point behind West Ham. 3 wins, 4 losses and 4 draws have Forest sat in 13th place. Steve Cooper‘s side have pushed on well from a successful campaign last year to fight for mid table once again. Forest have only lost 1 in their last 6 games, showing how hard they are to beat, and with no European football, they have had all week to focus on the game this Sunday.
Last season the Hammers tore through Forest to win 4-0 at the London stadium, can they repeat that again this time?
Key points:
Forest on the road to nowhere:
Coopers side only managed one away win last season, to bottom place Southampton, and 8 points in total from away matches. This has them as the worst traveling team in the entire league, averaging only 0.42 points per away game. As much as West Ham were triumphant at home, Forest managed a 1-0 win over the Hammers at the city ground. This shows Forest have the players to win big games, however they lack heavily when the atmosphere is against them. Forest gain nearly all their points at home, which means a huge advantage for the Hammers come Sunday.
Gibbs-White is the glue that keeps Forest together. He links up the play and creates plenty of goal scoring opportunities. He’s completed a staggering 252 passes this season. This is especially impressive considering that forest don’t tend to have much of the ball. What’s more impressive however, is that he creates 1.6 goal chances per match, which is Forests highest. Morgan Gibbs-White signed for a club record £25 million, with potential to rise another £17 million, and he’s shown his worth this last year and a half. last season he scored 5 goals and gained 8 assists, so he may have something to say during the game.
Awoniyi is back:
Nigerian forward Taiwo Micheal Awoniyi recently suffered an injury which Cooper described as a “complex situation”. Last week he went on to say, “It is something we will have to take day-by-day. He has good support around him, in terms of the medical staff we have, and hopefully he will be able to play more often than not.” . The number 9 played last weekend in Forest’s impressive 2-0 win over in-form Aston Villa, but fans aren’t too sure whether he is fully fit yet. Last year he was Forest’s top goal scorer, bagging 10 goals through the campaign. If he does plan on Sunday, expect him to play with real purpose as he is a player with something to prove.
Predictions:
With Forests poor history away from home, I would predict they lose away to pretty much any team bar Sheffield United and luton. They simply don’t travel well, which isn’t too much of a problem for them as last year they showed they can stay up by just picking points up at home. Currently they are sat in 8th place in the “Home Premier league table” , but this game isn’t at the City Ground. I’m going with a 2-0 West Ham win. Come on you Hammers!
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