Looking to stretch their Premier League unbeaten run to four matches, Ipswich Town head to the City Ground for a date with Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
Kieran McKenna's men denied Ruben Amorim a dream Manchester United debut in last weekend's 1-1 draw, while the Garibaldi crumbled in a heavy 3-0 loss to Arsenal.
Match preview
Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo in October 2024.© Imago
Even though Nottingham Forest only found themselves adrift of Arsenal by virtue of an inferior goal difference last weekend, any pre-game optimism among the Tricky Trees faithful was more or less extinguished when a Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood-less lineup was announced.
The visiting fans' fears came true in North London, where a scintillating strike from Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead in the first half, before Thomas Partey's equalling stunning effort and Ethan Nwaneri's first Premier League goal put the icing and cherry on top.
The two-week reset had seemingly come at an opportune time for Forest in the wake of their previous defeat to Newcastle United, but having now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season, Nuno Espirito Santo's team have been bumped down to seventh place in the Premier League table.
To even be challenging for the continental positions is still beyond some supporters' wildest dreams, but Forest's previous defensive discipline appears to be eluding them; they had only conceded three or more goals twice in 22 Premier League games before doing so in successive matches versus Arsenal and Newcastle.
Subjecting former Championship teams to rude awakenings has come easily to Forest in recent times, though, as the hosts have won each of their last four top-flight matches against newly-promoted sides, while avoiding defeat in their most recent eight games versus such teams.
Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna on July 27, 2024© Imago
An erstwhile Man United coach squared up to the new Red Devils leader at Portman Road last Sunday, where McKenna and Amorim witnessed Marcus Rashford get off the mark within two minutes of the Portuguese's reign, but that was not a precursor to a Man United mauling.
Indeed, ex-Arsenal and Chelsea product Omari Hutchinson levelled matters before the break with a stunning curling drive - albeit one that took a wicked deflection off of Noussair Mazraoui's head - as Ipswich restricted the Red Devils to just the one point in Suffolk.
The stalemate against Amorim's team saw Ipswich take a respectable fifth point for the last nine on offer, having also upset Tottenham Hotspur and shaken hands on a 1-1 draw with Leicester City earlier this month, putting them on the cusp of clambering out of the danger zone.
Only goal difference is keeping McKenna's 18th-placed troops below 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers - an eight-game run without a clean sheet has not helped the Tractor Boys in that regard - but the visitors have only failed to find the back of the net in one of their seven away matches so far this term.
March 2019 was the last time that Forest and Ipswich clashed in a competitive setting - a 1-1 Championship draw at Portman Road - but not since 1999 have the Tractor Boys come up trumps at the City Ground, going winless in their last 14 visits to the Tricky Trees' turf.
Nottingham Forest Premier League form:
Ipswich Town Premier League form:
Team News
Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White pictured on August 31, 2024© Imago
While eight-goal striker Wood did come off the bench at the Emirates, having been omitted from the starting lineup on account of his journey to and from New Zealand, creative hub Gibbs-White missed out entirely, as the ankle issue he sustained against Chelsea in gameweek seven flared up.
Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson (foot) and Anthony Elanga - who came off at half time in the Arsenal loss with "a lot of pain" in his shoulder - are all on the hosts' touch-and-go list before this one, while Danilo (ankle) and Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) are definitely missing.
Taiwo Awoniyi failed to make his presence felt at the Emirates and will no doubt make way for a refreshed Wood on Saturday, while Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa should fight it out for the chance to deputise for Elanga if the Swede is unavailable.
Speaking of attacking concerns, Ipswich unexpectedly had to make do without Ben Johnson for the visit of Man United, where Kalvin Phillips would have been eligible to make his return from suspension had he not been dealing with a knock.
Phillips, Johnson, Jacob Greaves (thigh) and Nathan Broadhead (groin) represent a quartet of doubts for the visitors, who are guaranteed to be without Janoi Donacien (ankle), George Hirst (knee) and Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles).
Greaves for Cameron Burgess - if the former is fit - might be the only change that McKenna considers for Saturday's showdown, as the Ipswich boss ought to see no need to shake up the side that performed valiantly against Amorim's Man United.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Yates, Dominguez; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Silva; Wood
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Muric; Tuanzebe, O'Shea, Burgess, Davis; Cajuste, Morsy; Burns, Hutchinson, Szmodics; Delap
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We say: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Ipswich Town
As praiseworthy as Ipswich's performances against Spurs and Man United were, the Tractor Boys are still lacking the formula for defensive success and should not expect to leave the City Ground with maximum points.
However, with Forest picking up additional injury concerns in the final third and also losing their mean defensive streak, we can envisage McKenna's men holding out for another low-scoring draw as the Garibaldi's plight continues.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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