Ipswich Town are back on the road as they face a high-flying Nottingham Forest side at the City Ground. Alex Jones takes a closer look at the Reds.
Life after promotion
Nottingham Forest’s rise to the top was pretty painful for their supporters. In fact, there were quite a few parallels between their journey and that of Ipswich.
The Reds had secured promotion to the Premier League in 1999 but were relegated straight back down at the first time of asking. They spent six years in the second tier before being relegated to League One, where it took them three attempts to escape.
They then spent 14 years back in the Championship, mostly lingering around mid-table. They were dumped out of the play-off places on the final day of the 2019/20 campaign in embarrassing fashion, but made up for it two years later when they finished fourth.
Under Steve Cooper, they beat Sheffield United in the play-off semi-finals and then took out Huddersfield Town at Wembley to finally return to the Premier League.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis was desperate to establish his side in the top flight, putting a huge amount of money in to sign 30 new players in the summer of 2022. They finished 16th that season and 17th the following term following a four-point deduction for PSR breaches. Cooper lost his job midway through the second season, with Nuno Espirito Santo brought in as his replacement after he was sacked by Al-Ittihad.
Red-hot start
Despite boasting a pretty strong squad, Forest were tipped to struggle this season after failing to impose themselves on the Premier League in previous campaigns. Nuno had failed to work his magic elsewhere after leaving Wolves and there were doubts over how much they would be allowed to spend over the summer.
A relatively kind start helped, beginning with a draw at home to Bournemouth and a win at newly-promoted Southampton. They then took a point off Wolves before providing one of the biggest shocks of the Premier League season so far, beating Liverpool at Anfield thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s second-half strike.
A home defeat to Fulham was disappointing, but it was sandwiched between impressive draws away at Brighton and Chelsea. Everything clicked after that, with the Reds bagging nine points from three games by beating Crystal Palace, Leicester City and West Ham.
At that point, they were third in the table and looking up at the teams above them, but things haven’t gone to plan since then.
A good time to play them?
Forest went into the November international break off the back of a disappointing home defeat. Hosting Newcastle United, Murillo gave them the lead in the first half at the City Ground, but they couldn’t hold on. The Magpies struck three times after the break, with Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes helping them to secure all three points.
Having a result like that just before an interval is never ideal, as it can fester and create mental problems, which the Reds certainly didn’t want going into a big game at Arsenal on November 23rd. They were comfortably beaten 3-0 in that one, with Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri all scoring to hand the visitors their third defeat of the season.
It’s only the second time that they’ve lost consecutive Premier League games since March, which shows just how strong they’ve been this season. Perhaps this is a good chance to take them on and perhaps capitalise on a little wobble.
On top of that, Forest have a unique quirk where their home form (W2 D2 L2) ranks them 13th in the Premier League while their away form (W3 D2 L1) is the third best. Crystal Palace and West Ham are the only sides to lose at the City Ground this season.
Ipswich are another side who have picked up more points on the road than they have on home soil this season, with their lone win coming at Tottenham. Perhaps it might help them being the away team this weekend.
Chris Wood’s on fire
When Chris Wood was on loan at Portman Road from Leicester in 2015, failing to score in eight appearances for Town, few fans could’ve predicted what he’d go on to achieve.
The striker had never shown a real prolific streak in his career before that point, but he improved at Leeds United before making the step up to the Premier League with Burnley, where he proved that he could consistently find the back of the net.
His big-money move to Newcastle was a disaster, but he found a home at Nottingham Forest. This season, he’s reached a whole new level.
After 12 games, the New Zealand international has eight goals – five of which came in a string of four consecutive games. Only Erling Haaland (12) and Mohamed Salah (10) have scored more this season.
There’s been a little bit of a drop off, which has mirrored that of his side. He had the fewest touches of any outfield player to play 90 minutes in the Newcastle game, failing to register a single shot, and was named among the substitutes at Arsenal, where he was relatively ineffective after coming on in the 63rd minute.
Make no mistake – when he’s on it, he’s a real threat. However, if you can nullify him, evidence suggests that Forest can struggle to find solutions in the final third.
Team news
Morgan Gibbs-White is the main doubt for Forest going into this game. The attacking midfielder limped off with an ankle injury in the draw against Chelsea, and although he’s since returned to action, setbacks have been an issue. He linked up with England during the international break but didn’t make the squad for the defeat to Arsenal. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be back to face Town.
Elliot Anderson [foot] is in the same position, while Anthony Elanga [shoulder] is set to have a scan to determine the extent of his knock that he picked up against the Gunners.
Danilo, who suffered a sickening ankle break earlier in the campaign, is nearing a return to fitness but won’t be ready for the Ipswich game. Nuno has claimed that Ibrahim Sangaré [hamstring] is also ‘on the right track’, but a little way away from full fitness.
All of the above are important players.
Possible XI; 4-2-3-1: Sels; Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Moreno; Ward-Prowse, Domínguez; Silva, Yates, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
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