As we move into a key part of the season, more and more teams are beginning to push hard to get results. This has seen teams that might have expected a comfortable season – like West Ham – see a slow start catch up to them. With that in mind, can the Hammers come out the other side of the relegation zone by defeating a Nottingham Forest side that have shown impressive mettle in recent weeks?
West Ham News
Injuries have been a killer for the Irons this year, and the fact they are likely missing the quarter of Maxwel Cornet, Kurt Zouma, Jarrod Bowen and record signing Lucas Paqueta are signs that the injury crisis is not yet over. Manager David Moyes will have seen reports that this is a do-or-die game for his reign, despite the lack of obvious replacements on the market.
This could see West Ham set up in a more defensive, counter-attacking style as they look to play on the youthfulness of Forest.
Nottingham Forest News
The Trent side are going into this game with a massive injury list. Just some of the names who are set to miss out include Omar Richards, Dean Henderson, Willy Boly, Scott McKenna, Taiwo Awoniyi, Serge Aurier, and Moussa Niakhaté. That is a huge number of players to be missing.
Still, they have found some decent form recently and could arrive at the London Stadium keen to make a point after some other less than impressive away results. Forest have stemmed the flow of goals in their games, though, so could be looking to turn this one into a war of attrition.
Verdict
For both teams, not losing would be a decent result. This could see West Ham set out to get a point as opposed to go for all three, which is the nature of Moyes. Forest will come to play, but the sheer volume of players missing could see them play out a rather tough to watch draw with the Irons.
SCORE: 0-0