Nottingham Forest vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Saturday’s Premier League action kicks off at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion go head-to-head in an exciting fixture.

Nottingham Forest’s fairytale top-flight campaign suffered a rare setback last weekend as a 5-0 thumping at Bournemouth knocked them down from an outstanding eight-game unbeaten league streak (W7, D1). That’s one more goal than they had conceded in their seven previous Premier League games. Forest’s bid to immediately return to the win column is anything but a foregone conclusion, as they’ve won just one of their last nine matches against Brighton (D2, L5). Both those victories arrived on home turf, where they’ve emerged victorious from six of their eight Premier League outings since the start of October (D1, L1). However, a draw is a distinct possibility, considering Nuno Espirito Santo has shared the spoils in five of his seven managerial H2Hs against Brighton (W1, D1).

Meanwhile, Brighton’s three-match winning streak in all competitions ended abruptly last weekend as Everton beat them 1-0 in East Sussex, inflicting the Seagulls’ third Premier League defeat since the beginning of December (W2, D5). Away from home, Fabian Hurzeler’s men have gone from three consecutive league draws to back-to-back two-goal margin victories. Delivering action from the get-go, Brighton have tallied a league-high seven away goals within the opening 15 minutes, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. That could lead to another high-scoring contest, which has been a common theme in Brighton’s road matches since early December, as four out of seven featured precisely four goals (W3, D3, L1).