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Another England international with pressure on his shoulders is Elliot Anderson who Nottingham Forest are relying upon to drag them clear of the relegation zone. The midfielder is doing his best and under Vitor Pereira appears to have been given licence to shoot on sight, letting fly 20 times across his last six starts in all competitions. He got his reward with a lovely goal at the Etihad last time out and so will surely be encouraged to keep on shooting on sight. 

I mentioned in the last edition of this column that Fulham have their feet up with little to play for this season and since then they have lost at West Ham and exited the FA Cup to Championship Southampton. They’ve shipped 12.79 shots per game on the road and with such a contrast in motivation for the two sides, Anderson should get chances to shoot as he did in the reverse fixture.

With the record of one win, one draw and four losses as Forest boss, Vitor Pereira has so far been unable to inspire the change needed by his side. Over 1.5 goals has landed in four of those games, with 1-0 defeats against Liverpool and Midtjylland, respectively, missing this mark. However, Forest generated a total of 2.91 xG across those two matches, which suggests they were unlucky.

With 43 goals conceded from their 29 Premier League games this season, Forest have been poor at the back, which has been a consistent theme all season. However, they can carry a threat going forward, and will hope to be more ruthless in the final third this weekend.

They host a Fulham side who have also been far from convincing at the back in recent weeks, and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 14 matches across all competitions.

They have suffered some disappointing results coming into this clash, and Marco Silva will be desperate for his men to bounce back here. They are averaging 2.92 goals per game on their travels in the Premier League this season, with 16 goals scored and 25 conceded from their 14 matches. Fulham haven’t been anywhere near as strong on their travels, compared to when they play at Craven Cottage. They have conceded 5.43 corners per game when playing away, and their opponents have hit this mark in seven of their last nine matches.

Forest have only won one of their last nine games across all competitions at the City Ground, but they have registered at least five corners in eight of those matches. They are averaging 5.52 corners per game this season, which rises significantly to 6.4 when playing at home, which reflects their front-footed approach when encouraged by the home crowd.

Igor Jesus was given the nod to lead the line for Forest in midweek, but the Brazilian was once again ineffective, and Vitor Pereira could opt for some changes this weekend. Lorenzo Lucca will hope for a call up, which would be ideal for this selection. The Italy international is averaging 2.5 fouls per 90 for Nottingham Forest, reflecting his aggressive approach up front. Even for Napoli in the first half of the season, Lucca was averaging 3.33 fouls per 90, which is ridiculously high. He should be up against Calvin Bassey here. 

Bassey has landed this selection in all 11 away starts this season, and he is averaging 1.49 fouls drawn per 90. For a centre back, those are impressive numbers, and the Nigerian is adept at drawing soft free kicks at the back for Fulham, which works to alleviate pressure and allow his side to settle in possession.

Morgan Gibbs-White has been one of Forest’s best players this season, and he played the full 90 in that 1-0 defeat against Midtjylland on Thursday. A lot of Forest’s chances came through him, and he had three shots himself. 

Gibbs-White has been a constant outlet for Forest this term, and his shot volume has remained high under the new manager. Gibbs-White is averaging 2.4 shots per 90 across all competitions this campaign. That figure rises to 2.94 when playing at the City Ground, where he has landed this selection in 17 out of 18 appearances in total. Gibbs-White tends to stay central rather than try to provide from out wide, which means he looks to get into the box to create overloads, or try his luck from the edge of the box. 

He only failed to hit this mark against Man City, but Fulham are a much better matchup here, and Forest should be able to carve out good chances.

Alex Iwobi played in a more advance role last weekend for Fulham due to absence of the likes of Kevin and Harry Wilson. Iwobi operated from the flanks, which was where he played earlier in his career before moving more centrally in recent years. He scored against Spurs and Sunderland in recent weeks, and also set up Raul’s goal v Sunderland from a corner. In the absence of Harry Wilson with an ankle problem, Iwobi will be Fulham’s chief creator.

Fulham travel to take on Nottingham Forest, another side playing a game on Sunday between two European ties. Forest are one goal down in that one, but surely cannot rotate too much with their Premier League survival on the line. Forest have kept just one clean sheet in their last six league games, and that was at home to bottom of the table Wolves.