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A win tonight would be huge for both teams. Neither Fulham nor Forest are in trouble at the moment … but they’re trouble-adjacent, and three points would make their Christmas morning eggnog taste that much sweeter. Victory tonight springs Fulham feasibly as high as 11th, though they’d need to give Forest a four-goal battering to get there. But any victory would take them above Spurs, while a two-goal win sees them leapfrog Brentford as well, and that would surely be more than satisfactory in warming their capital cockles. Meanwhile Forest can only get as high as 15th with a win, but that’d put them ahead of Fulham, and more importantly eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche speaks to Sky Sports. “Doug [Luiz] has certainly got Premier League experience … a very good footballer … on the verge of being fully match fit … Mats [Sels] has only had four days training … a bad finger … a groin … we’ve had to be careful with that … but John [Victor] has earned the right for this one with two very strong performances … [the 3-0 win over Spurs] was certainly the most consistent performance [this season] … we want the players to keep building and delivering at that level … we know we’re going to have to be strong tonight.”
Fulham make one change from the starting XI selected for last Wednesday’s 2-1 League Cup defeat at Newcastle. Bernd Leno comes back into the team, with cup keeper Benjamin Lecomte dropping to the bench. Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi are all on Afcon duty with Nigeria.
Forest make one change to their starting team after the 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur eight days ago. Douglas Luiz replaces Ibrahim Sangaré, who is off to Afcon with Côte d’Ivoire.
The teams
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez.
Subs: Lecomte, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Kusi-Asare, Castagne, King, Diop, Ridgeon.
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Anderson, Douglas Luiz, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus.
Subs: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Kalimuendo, Dominguez, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Paul Howard
Preamble
Fulham have won five of their last six Premier League matches against Nottingham Forest, winning all three of those played at Craven Cottage by the aggregate score of 9-1. On the other hand, Forest have won four of their last six league games, while Fulham have lost their last two league games at home. So something has to give. But what? Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, after which we’ll find out. It’s on!
