Nottingham Forest

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

• Following their 2-0 win at the City Ground in November, Nottingham Forest are looking to complete their first league double over Aston Villa since 1984-85.

• After a 17-game unbeaten home run in the Premier League – 16 of which were victories – Aston Villa have now lost their last two games at Villa Park. They last lost three in a row in November 2020 under Dean Smith.

• Nottingham Forest have scored in all eight of their Premier League games under Nuno Espirito Santo, netting 15 goals in total. It’s just two fewer goals than they scored in 17 league games under Steve Cooper this season.

• Unai Emery has won just one of his six meetings with Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo (D3 L2). He is without a win in all three Premier League meetings with the Portuguese manager (D2 L1).

• Ollie Watkins has been involved in 23 Premier League goals this season, scoring 13 and assisting 10. Only Dwight Yorke in 1995-96 (27) has ever been involved in more goals for Aston Villa in a single Premier League campaign.

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

I was absolutely all in favour of VAR when it was introduced. I am still in favour of VAR, in principle at least. There is far too much at stake in modern football - money, promotion, relegation, trophies - for huge decisions to be made when the game is in full flow.

Except, the human error element has simply been passed from an on-field referee to an off-field referee. And that makes it easy to see why people are so opposed to VAR. The rules of the game have to be applied consistently and fairly, ideally without the long interruptions, and video replays should quickly confirm or correct officials' decisions.

It is hard to explain where it is going wrong at the moment. It is evidently mistakes, errors of judgement and even incompetence which go against all clubs. Conversely, some of those go in your favour. But for VAR to continue, these basic issues must be resolved. The 2022 World Cup seemed to work pretty well, in my memory at least, so it need not be endlessly controversial.

For the second week in a row, Forest were denied a seemingly obvious penalty on Saturday. It did not cost us three points, thankfully, but other decisions against us this season have been to our detriment.

Perhaps it is for these reasons that former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg is now the Reds’ "match and performance analyst". Maybe his presence will improve our relationship with the PGMOL if nothing else.

Pat Riddell can be found at The Famous Club, external

We asked you for your thoughts on Saturday's Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. Here are some of your comments...

Forest fans

Mark: Another very spirited performance. Quick, insightful passing, great control and kept up the fight. Nuno is doing very well with getting the team to gel together.

Shaun: Nuno realised West Ham were there for the taking so sent the lads out to go at them and it worked. We should have scored a couple more, and should have got a penalty but VAR had their eyes closed. Well deserved, and a much-needed win.

Jon: Best we’ve played for ages. Silly errors at the back still but, unlike Newcastle, West Ham couldn’t punish us. The forward unit looked great. Origi contributed to the second goal, so let’s give him a chance.

West Ham fans

Andrew: Abject. Game lost before it started. Playing a lacklustre, mediocre Championship-status centre-forward and no depth in squad, alongside a rusty loanee. We need a creative midfielder but with Paqueta out and having sold both Lanzini and Benrahma there’s no change to a vapid side or selection. Substitutions made 20 minutes too late.

Barry: Luckily we had a decent start to the season, otherwise we would be looking at relegation. We got what most fans expected out of this game - nothing. Ref was poor but not as bad as the Hammers. Paqueta getting injured and the awful transfer window has ended our season. No new contract for Moyes. Roll on May and get this season over with.

Nilesh: I think this run was on the cards and entirely predictable as we had ridden our luck in a lot of games this season and needed moments of brilliance from individuals to get us results. However, by and large, we've never had it better as West Ham fans and Moyes deserves backing - at least until the end of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given spoke to Match of The Day about Nottingham Forest's left flank in their victory over West Ham: "I think they were very strong down the left side with Nuno Tavares and Callum Hudson-Odoi, they were on fire today. Coufal and Bowen couldn't deal with these guys.

"They were super fast on the left side. Tavares is a really offensive full-back and he's got this partnership going with Hudson-Odoi, who looks like he's really enjoying his football at the moment. He's back to where Chelsea fans think he should be. They were super positive, on the front foot and getting their shots off.

"Nuno Espirito Santo deserves credit as well, he's telling his players to commit bodies forward."

Listen to the full episode here

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League matches.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

Burnley v Arsenal

Man City v Chelsea

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Eyebrows were raised when Nottingham Forest signed Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea in the summer for a fee less than £5 million.

This is a player who was the subject of bids from Bayern Munich in 2019 but an Achilles tendon injury slowed his progress and he struggled to cement a place in Chelsea 's side after recovering.

His start to life at the City Ground has been steady but nothing special, although he may now be announcing himself as one of the star men.

Hudson-Odoi, who has three England caps, scored in stoppage time for Nottingham Forest and cemented a well-earned victory to lift them five points clear of Everton in the bottom three.

That goal means he has scored in his third game on the bounce for the first time in his Premier League career.

With Nuno Espirito Santo admitting Taiwo Awoniyi’s fitness is an “issue”, Hudson-Odoi looks like the man to take the load off the Forest striker.

Nuno Espirito Santo speaking to BBC Match of the Day after Nottingham Forest's victory over West Ham: "It feels good after a performance like we did. We played really good football, were dominant, were in control, kept a clean sheet which is so important for us. I think we were the better team today so it pleases me more."

On the defensive performance, Nuno added: "They were very aggressive, the distances on top of West Ham players didn't allow them to decide. This is what we are trying to give them, the confidence to release and play their football because they have talent."

On Taiwo Awoniyi: "Strikers are about scoring but for us it's more than that. They have to work, they have to read the game and when the moment comes put it inside the net. We know he's struggling in terms of fitness, it's up to us to manage him."

On the Neco Williams penalty appeal: "It's obvious, I saw the image which is why I'm so confident I'm saying this. I don't understand why VAR didn't give it. They have to speak to each other and understand why."

On how Forest are progressing: "I think we have to go step by step, there's a lot of detail we have to improve. We were able to improve in certain parts of the game but still a long way to go. We are trying every day, the commitment is very important, but we expect even more from them."

• West Ham have lost their past three games in the Premier League, all without scoring a single goal. It is the first time that the Hammers have lost three consecutive league games without scoring since August 2022, with that run also featuring a defeat at Nottingham Forest.

• Nottingham Forest have kept a clean sheet in the Premier League for the first time in 14 games. Meanwhile, this was Forest’s third victory over West Ham in the Premier League, with the Tricky Trees recording a shutout in each of those victories.

• West Ham are winless across their six Premier League games in 2024 (D3 L3), with the Hammers failing to win any of their opening six league games of a calendar year for the first time since 20047 (first eight).

• Nicolas Dominguez has been directly involved in a goal in each of his past two Premier League appearances (2 assists), as many goal involvements as he managed in his first 14 games.

• Kalvin Phillips received his first ever red card in the Premier League. However, it is his fifth dismissal across his English league career and second at the City Ground, after also being sent off for Leeds against Nottingham Forest in January 2019 in the Championship.

Nottingham Forest climbed five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and added to the pressure on West Ham United manager David Moyes with a deserved victory at the City Ground.

Taiwo Awoniyi gave the home side the lead just before half-time and Callum Hudson-Odoi made sure of the win in added time when he scored for the third consecutive game.

On-loan midfielder Kalvin Phillips was shown two yellow cards in three minutes as he had another game to forget for West Ham.

Forest move up to 15th while Moyes' side's failure to bounce back from the 6-0 thrashing against Arsenal last Sunday means they stay eighth.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from home?

Forest fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Hammers fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

There are seven games being played in the Premier League on Saturday and we will bring you every moment.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

All times are GMT

BBC pundit Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on rapper Songer, who is a Chelsea fan.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

It is fair to say that both of these teams need a victory. Neither side has managed one in the Premier League in 2024, and this is a hard one to call.

The usual way of thinking with West Ham would be to ask if they are going to bounce back from their 6-0 home defeat by Arsenal. I am going to say they won't.

We know David Moyes' teams have been resilient in the past but I cannot back anyone who has been beaten that heavily the previous week - it is not just a case of clicking your fingers and turning it around.

The Hammers surely cannot be as lax as they were against Arsenal, but I am going with Nottingham Forest to find a way through.

Songer's prediction: 0-0

This is definitely not one for the neutral! The West Ham fans were furious when I watched them the other day and you could feel it, so I am not sure if the players are going to have much motivation.

Read all of Sutton's predictions for this weekend's games

The key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Nottingham Forest and West Ham in the Premier League.

• Nottingham Forest have lost nine of their past 13 Premier League matches (W2 D2), including three of their four in 2024 so far (D1). Since the start of November, no side has lost more games in the competition than Forest (9, level with Brentford and Burnley).

• West Ham have lost both of their past two league games, conceding nine goals in the process, as many as they had in their previous eight in the Premier League beforehand. The Hammers have also failed to score in those two defeats; not since August 2022 have they lost three league games in a row without scoring, a run that included a 1-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest.

• Nottingham Forest have conceded in each of their past 13 Premier League matches (29 conceded) since a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in November. Indeed, they have kept the fewest clean sheets of any ever-present side over the past two seasons (11 in 62 games).

• David Moyes has won a Premier League match at 37 different stadiums, although his one game at the City Ground ended in a 1-0 defeat. The only managers with a win at more different stadiums in the competition are Arsène Wenger (48), Alex Ferguson (47), Harry Redknapp (39) and José Mourinho (38).

• Anthony Elanga has been directly involved in 11 goals in 23 Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest (5 goals, 6 assists) – no player has ever been involved in more goals aged 21 or younger for Forest in the Premier League (Brennan Johnson, also 11).

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Nottingham Forest's match against West Ham United on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Africa Cup of Nations finalists Ibrahim Sangare, Willy Boly and Ola Aina will not be available for the game. They are all set to rejoin with the squad soon.

• Nuno hasn't spoken to Aina yet, after he narrowly missed out on the Afcon title with Nigeria, with the manager stating: "We expect him to arrive today. We mentioned before that it was a final. Ibrahim, Willy and Serge were champions, we have to congratulate them. At the same time, Ola is disappointed. He will have another chance in the future for sure."

• There are no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game, so the squad will be "basically the same" as the one which faced Newcastle United. Nuno explained that there are still "a lot of issues" with injuries in the squad.

• He revealed what they have been working on in training, after not having any midweek fixtures: "We are offensively very strong, we are scoring and creating a lot of chances, but we have to improve in the other box. We have to be more aggressive and solve situations because we are conceding goals from our own mistakes."

• On conceding from set pieces and dealing with central midfielder James Ward-Prowse: "We have to be aware that they have a good delivery. James is quite a consistent kicker of the ball. At the same time, they are big players and aggressive on set pieces but we have to prepare and be ready for this."

• On whether now is a good time to be playing West Ham, who have lost their last two games and conceded nine goals without scoring, Nuno said: "They are a good team, the table shows it. What happened before, there will be a reaction [to the 6-0 defeat to Arsenal]. We know how hard it is to play West Ham but we have to focus on ourselves."

• Nuno believes Callum Hudson-Odoi has recently found form due to playing more: "He has been playing and that's a big thing for a player. When you have the chance to play, you improve. He's combining well with his team-mates but we still expect a lot of good things because the talent is there."

• He is "thankful" for the Nottingham Forest supporters still being in good voice: "This is what we have and we are so thankful for it. Our fans are amazing and we cannot thank them enough. It has been fantastic."

Follow Thursday's news conferences here

Nottingham Forest are in danger. They made the manager change and they got an initial bounce but it hasn't been easy for Nuno Espirito Santo.

His first match was a home game that was quite strange against Bournemouth with the controversial straight red card for Willy Boly. They then got a win at Newcastle and beat Manchester United too. I covered them last week in the FA Cup, but with a very depleted squad with lots of players away, injured, suspended and not eligible, they only just squeezed through against Bristol City on penalties.

They are in and around it, and I don't think they're doing poorly, I just feel like they've had a real depth of squad issue. You know going forward that they're going to get results, it's just a matter of getting more of the players back into the side, more of the players available.

They've got some talent, they've got some goalscorers, people who can change games. Morgan Gibbs-White has been excellent, Anthony Elanga when he's available has pace, Callum Hudson-Odoi has done well and Taiwo Awoniyi coming back will make a difference if he can get fit quite quickly. Things will settle down now the transfer window has gone, players coming back and they've got an experienced manager.

I don't think Nuno will be used to being right at the bottom in that relegation fight, but I think he has gained experiences from his last couple of appointments since Wolves. He'll be ready for the challenge. Half the problem is just juggling the squad, finding out what is the best starting XI. As you think you're getting there, the window comes, players leave again, injury happens, suspensions, so I think in a couple of weeks we'll see an improvement from Forest.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

Supporting Nottingham Forest has never been easy. It is not supposed to be. If waiting 23 years for a return to the top flight was not bad enough, having two seasons of doubt about whether we would actually stay there is really all we can expect.

As we go into the final third of the campaign with a fairly settled squad and enough promise to give us hope, the threat of a points deduction is currently making everyone question every single decision in every single game.

And if the possibility of a future punishment of our own making causes this much anguish, then the current and ongoing policy of self-inflicted wounds is proof that supporting the Reds is tantamount to some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Six times we have lost in games ending 3-2 this season. We have conceded from set pieces on 15 occasions. Our ever-present goal threat on the break is invariably neutered by our habit of gifting goals to the opposition.

While the squad is surely only too aware of this themselves, and the return of big players is a huge boost to our predicament, as supporters all we can do really is support.

The cauldron of noise that the City Ground has been in recent years is our best hope of ensuring those remaining home fixtures are as difficult as possible for away teams.

Beyond that, the club's destiny still remains in its own hands.

Pat Riddell can be found at The Famous Club, external

We asked you for your thoughts on Saturday's Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Newcastle.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans

Tom: Forest’s performance against Newcastle was much improved from the ‘batten-down-the-hatches’ approach taken against Arsenal, and the lacklustre showing in the FA Cup. The new goalkeeper Mats Sels showed a marked improvement in distribution, however more goals conceded from silly mistakes mean Forest are their own worst enemy.

Andy: We were good today. There were some real positives for us. Callum Hudson-Odoi has really improved, Anthony Elanga looks class, and Morgan Gibbs-White is really starting to drive us forward. I look forward to the rest of the season.

Matt: I think Forest deserved a draw today and were unlucky in the end. Yes, it is imperative that we defend set pieces better. For me, much softer penalties than Taiwo Awoniyi's have been given for other teams this season but, yet again, Forest don't get one. That moment was crucial. It could have easily been 3-2 to Forest after 65 minutes.

Samuel: We play some beautiful football but we just haven’t got that player to put the ball in the back of the net. We had two great results after Steve Cooper's sacking - since then we haven’t improved. Time is running out!

Newcastle fans

Stephen: We looked out of sorts tonight with a few players not at their best. Anthony Gordon especially gave the ball away a lot tonight. Bruno Guimaraes was excellent but we really seem to miss Joe Willock in midfield. However, we did enough to get the three points and that's all that counts at the minute. We showed a lot of character again, which is a positive.

Victor: Very average. We have too many players with no touch. They graft but it's huff-and-puff stuff. Bruno was class. Gordon and Lewis Miley are exhausted. Dan Burn and Sven Botman are lacking pace. We will be lucky to get into the top seven. It was a battling performance though.

Richy: We can all see that Burn is struggling. He is an easy target for the opposition and it's unbalancing the team. He has been great for us and has a role to play but we can’t afford sentiment if we want to progress. It was nice to see us tighten up and cling on to a lead in a tight game - it’s been a while!

Richard: Remember when we used to keep clean sheets? I think the character of the team is magnificent and our last two results have shown this, but I’d be even happier if we stopped letting in so many goals. It’s not a back-five issue. The team need to plug the holes! We can’t keep relying on tenacity to get points.

Mark Chapman introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League matches.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

Liverpool 3-1 Burnley

Nottingham Forest 2-3 Newcastle