Nottingham Forest v Everton

 

Out of all of this weekends games, this would have been the one where fans pinned ‘relegation battle’ on at the start of the season. Nottingham Forest are newly promoted and have looked as inconsistent as one would expect with a team that made 20+ signings. Everton are a mess, and have been playing with a loaded deck for what feels like five years now. Who wins this basement battle?

Nottingham Forest News

Forest still come into this game with an eye-watering injury list that covers as many as ten players. This includes first-choice defenders in Willy Boly and Scott McKenna. Key forward Taiwo Awoniyi is out, as are other key players like Sergie Aurier and Dean Henderson. For Nottingham Forest, the injuries are not drying up and it is leaving Steve Cooper in a tough spot with regards to selection.

Ryan Yates might return, but no other injury complaints look close to a return.

Everton News

The Toffees are seeing their own injury nightmare clear-up, though they will be without Andros Townsend and Nathan Patterson for the foreseeable. It does look like James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are close to a return, though a trip to the Midlands will likely come too soon for both.

Expect the Blues to come into this one looking to try and find some consistency in selection. New manager Sean Dyche is winless since his opening game, and needs to see something here to help dispel any worries about his new employers.

Verdict

This is a game between two sides low on belief and confidence. Forest do have a decent unbeaten home run, but they are not scoring enough goals. Everton do not create enough and have a nasty habit of producing comical defensive displays. It is hard to call a winner, though, with both teams so lacking in both squad depth and scoring form.

SCORE: 0-0