Overview
On the day James Milner entered Premier League history as the player with the most appearances, Brighton created a shock when they defeated Brentford 2-0 right in West London, thereby winning their eighth victory this season.
This is their first victory after a streak of 6 matches without a full score, since the 2-0 victory over Burnley - the team ranked second to last - in early January.
Just one victory in 13 matches before the away game at Gtech Community Stadium made Brighton considered a relegation candidate. However, goals from Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck helped coach Fabian Hurzeler's team widen the gap with the relegation group to 9 points.
Their next goal is a ninth victory, thereby almost ensuring a relegation spot, unless they decline sharply in the late season and the teams below break through. However, Brighton has only won two consecutive victories this season - against Brentford and Nottingham Forest in November last year. And they will want to repeat that this weekend.
Despite erratic form, opportunities still open when Forest is having a big problem in scoring since Lorenzo Lucca scored in the 1-3 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road.
Tricky Trees" launched 56 shots, reaching xG 3.86 during that time but could not score any goals. This partly explains coach Vitor Pereira's anger after Alexis Mac Allister scored in the 90+7 minute to help Liverpool win at City Ground.
That defeat, along with West Ham United drawing with AFC Bournemouth, made Forest only 2 points ahead of West Ham - the team ranked 18th - before this round.
Personnel situation
Although James Milner had to leave the field at the end of the match against Brentford due to suspected thigh injury, this veteran midfielder has been confirmed to be fit enough to play.
However, Solly March (knee) and Yasin Ayari (shoulder) still need further checks before the match kicks off. Meanwhile, Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas are definitely absent due to knee injuries.
After ending a 7-match goalless streak in the Premier League with a goal against Brentford, Danny Welbeck has a chance to reach the 10-goal mark this season, thereby equaling his best scoring record in a season.
At the age of 35, Welbeck can become the first player from 33 years old or older since Jamie Vardy (seasons 2020-2021 and 2021-2022) to score 10 or more goals in two consecutive seasons in the league.
On the Nottingham Forest side, Chris Wood's absence since November last year due to a knee injury has put the burden of scoring goals on Morgan Gibbs-White's shoulders. This attacking midfielder is aiming to increase his total goals to more than 6 when playing away at Amex.
Notably, Igor Jesus has not been able to reproduce his impressive form in the Europa League in the domestic arena. He scored 7 goals in the Europa League but only 2 goals in the Premier League, although both were decisive goals - one goal less than Gibbs-White's 3 breakthrough goals.
In addition to Wood, Forest also suffered personnel losses when John Victor, Nicolo Savona and Willy Boly had knee problems. Goalkeeper Matz Sels is in the process of recovering from a groin injury and may return soon.
Expected lineup:
Verbruggen, Wieffer, Van Hecke, Dunk, Kadioglu, Hinshelwood, Baleba, Gross, Gomez, Welbeck, Mitoma.
Nottingham Forest: Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus.
The match between Brighton and Nottingham Forest takes place at 9:00 PM on March 1st (Vietnam time).
