Overview
In their last 10 games, Nottingham have lost 1, drawn 1 and won 8. In that run, only Man City and Liverpool have made Nottingham lose points.
Nottingham's solid defence has been the mainstay of their impressive run of form. They have the second-best defence in the league this season, tied with Liverpool (20 goals conceded) and only behind Arsenal (19 goals conceded).
In contrast to the home team, Southampton are playing extremely badly. In the last 10 matches, they won 1, drew 1 and lost 8.
In their most recent game against Man United, Southampton had the advantage of leading but easily lost the game late on. That shows how bad the Saints' defense is. They currently have the second worst defense in the Premier League with 47 goals conceded, only bettered by Wolves (48 goals conceded).
Southampton are 20th in the Premier League table (W1 D3 L17). After 21 games, Southampton have only 6 points. Away from home, they have gone 18 consecutive matches without a win in the tournament, stretching back to February 2023.
In addition, Nottingham is on a 4-match unbeaten streak at home, including 3 wins. With the huge gap between the two teams at the moment and home field advantage, victory is almost certain in the hands of coach Nuno Santo's team.
In terms of head-to-head record, the home team at City Ground has also won all 3 recent encounters against Southampton. In the first leg of this season, they defeated Southampton 1-0 away thanks to a goal from Morgan Gibbs-White.
Human resources situation
Nottingham Forest will be without Sangare for this match due to injury. Nuno Santo is likely to stick with the same line-up as in midweek.
On the other side of the front line, Southampton cannot use Stewart, Stephens and Larios. Paul Onuachu, Cameron Archer or Adam Armstrong could partner Kamaldeen Sulemana in attack.
Expected lineup:
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Yates, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Wood, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Sugawara, Downes, Ugochukwu, Walker-Peters, Fernandes, Onuachu, Sulemana.
The match between Nottingham and Southampton takes place at 9:00 p.m. on January 19 (Vietnam time).
