At The City Ground, a fiercely contested clash awaits tonight as Nottingham Forest braces for the visit of Arsenal. Both sides have showcased resilience this season.
There is a six-point difference between the teams. Just one match at the "City Ground" stadium could cut the difference in half. However, the hosts are not in the best form, so they are considered underdogs in the upcoming match.
On the other hand, Arsenal has many personnel losses, which could affect their play and the result.
In a stretch of 17 head-to-head matches, Arsenal holds the advantage with a 65% win rate. They were also stronger in the first round of the current competition, sending three unanswered goals into Nottingham's net at the “Emirates”.
Notably, it was then that Ethan Nwaneri scored his debut goal for Arsenal, a player who has become indispensable to the “Gunners” lineup amid numerous injuries to attacking players. At that time, Arsenal took eight corner kicks, fitting well into the trend where the team has had at least six corners in seven consecutive head-to-head matches.
Nottingham Forest had a stretch this season where they suffered three defeats in four matches.
After that, the team went on an unbeaten run and secured a spot in the top 4.
Currently, they have only one victory in four games. However, they thrashed Brighton (7:0), with Chris Wood scoring a hat-trick. He managed to score in the next match as well, but it wasn't enough to earn points against Fulham (1:2). Recently, the "Foresters" were close to another heavy defeat.
In the first 11 minutes of the first half, they conceded four goals to Newcastle. However, after the break, they managed to turn the game around and even reduced the deficit to a minimum (3:4).
Despite this rough patch, Nottingham Forest remains in third place in the league table.
It's worth noting that Nuno Espírito Santo's squad is preparing for the upcoming match almost at full strength. Only Carlos Miguel, the team's second goalkeeper, is absent.
In another Fixture, A resurgent Tottenham Hotspurs are searching for a fourth-straight Premier League win when they welcome Pep Guardiola's Limping Manchester City tonight.
Pep Guardiola's men were defeated by champions-elect Liverpool on Sunday after they exited the Champions League before the round of 16.
It's been an unfamiliar year for the once dominant Cityzens, and they'll have to battle hard down the stretch to claim a spot in Europe's premier club competition for next season.
Crucially, Erling Haaland is expected to be available for the trip to north London after the striker missed out at the weekend with a knee injury.
The Norwegian will lead the visitors' line, with Omar Marmoush likely to work in tandem. Kevin De Bruyne is the most likely to be replaced.
John Stones is set to miss out along with Manuel Akanji, while Ruben Dias could return to the City XI. Rodri is a long-term absentee, and it's not yet clear when we'll next see Oscar Bobb in action.
Spurs on the other hand have endured a wretched season in Ange Postecoglou's second year, but are well set to enjoy a strong end to the campaign with their players returning from injury.
Their winning run in the league was soured by exits from the domestic cups earlier this month, but Spurs still have the Europa League at their disposal.
The Tottenham squad is returning to full fitness piece-by-piece, but they're still without starting centre-halves Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero. Kevin Danso has proven to be a distinct upgrade on Radu Dragusin after the Romanian defender tore his ACL, and the former Lens star will retain his place in the starting XI.
Destiny Udogie returned after six weeks out on Saturday, and Djed Spence has to keep his place given his rich vein of form. Pedro Porro could remain on the bench as a result.
James Maddison should be back in the XI after appearing off the bench at Portman Road, but Ange Postecoglou may have to utilise Dejan Kulusevski wide right in order to facilitate the Englishman's return.
Dominic Solanke and Richarlison are both out, while Timo Werner is a doubt.
