Sean Dyche will renew acquaintances with former club Everton when he takes his Nottingham Forest side to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for their latest Premier League fixture on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams meet for the first time since April when former Toffees midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a 94th-minute winner in a 1-0 victory at the City Ground.
Match preview
David Moyes was fully aware that Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium has not been a “happy hunting ground” for his Everton side in recent years, but after losing seven consecutive visits to the Cherries in all competitions, the Toffees secured a slender 1-0 triumph on Tuesday night.
In a tight contest lacking clear-cut chances, a deflected strike from Jack Grealish 12 minutes from time was enough for Everton to claim all three points and return to winning ways, just three days after suffering a heavy **4-1 home defeat**to Newcastle United.
Aside from that blip against the Magpies, Moyes will have had few complaints with his team’s recent form, with three wins posted across their last four matches to help them climb up to 10th in the Premier League table and only three points behind the top four.
Not since the 2020-21 campaign have the Toffees accumulated as many as 21 points at this stage of a Premier League season (P14 W6 D3 L5). Four of their six wins have been by a one-goal margin, but they have suffered defeat by at least three goals in two of their last three home matches.
Everton will take some comfort from the fact that they have won seven of their last 11 Premier League meetings with this weekend’s opponents Nottingham Forest (D2 L2), keeping a clean sheet in all seven of those, including three of their last four encounters.
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Sean Dyche deserved credit for how he has steadied the ship at Nottingham Forest since the miserable 39-day reign of Ange Postecoglou, steering the club to five wins and two draws in nine matches across all competitions (L2) since his arrival at the end of October.
The Tricky Trees have won three of those games across their last four in the top light - only Aston Villa (W4) boast a better record in that time - most recently bouncing back from a 2-0 home defeat to Brighton last weekend with a narrow 1-0 victory at basement club Wolves on Wednesday night.
Igor Jesus's sixth goal of the season and first in the Premier League was enough for Forest to claim maximum points, and Dyche was "super pleased" with the way his team "found a way to win" despite not performing at their best level at Molineux.
Sitting 16th in the Premier League table and three points above the relegation zone, Forest head into Saturday’s clash with Everton having already celebrated success on Merseyside this season, after beating reigning champions Liverpool by a 3-0 scoreline at Anfield a fortnight ago.
Dyche is now gearing up to face his former side Everton, where he won just under 31% of his 84 matches in charge between January 2023 and 2025. During his time at previous club Burnley, Dyche faced Everton 14 times and only won two twice across seven away clashes (L5), while Forest last won away against the Toffees in December 2024 (2-0).
Everton Premier League form:
L
D
W
W
L
W
Nottingham Forest Premier League form:
L
D
W
W
L
W
Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):
D
W
W
W
L
W
Team News
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman (both hamstring) and Merlin Rohl (hernia) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Saturday’s game may also come too soon for Michael Keane, who missed the midweek win at Bournemouth with an unspecified problem.
Meanwhile, Idrissa Gueye will serve the second of a three-match ban this weekend and is joined on the naughty step by fellow midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Bournemouth.
Moyes is down to his bare bones in a few positions and it remains to be seen whether Nathan Patterson will be fit to start at right-back, having only just returned from a long-term foot problem.
James Garner may therefore need to continue in a makeshift right-back role, with Jake O’Brien partnering James Tarkowski at centre-back, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carlos Alvarez could be tasked with operating in deeper midfield positions, with Dwight McNeil potentially handed a rare start in an advanced central role.
As for Nottingham Forest, Ola Aina, Dilane Bakwa, Douglas Luiz (all thigh), Chris Wood, Angus Gunn (both knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin) and Taiwo Awoniyi (muscle) all remain sidelined as they continue to recover from injury.
Morgan Gibbs-White is nursing a minor back problem, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday and could play in an advanced midfield role in front of in-demand Elliot Anderson and either Ibrahim Sangare or Ryan Yates.
A late call is set to be made on the availability of defender Murillo, who missed the midweek win a Wolves due to illness and a hamstring issue. Morato and Nikola Milenkovic will continue to link arms at centre-back if Murillo is not fit to start.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Garner; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Dewsbury-Hall, Alcaraz; Ndiaye, McNeil, Grealish; Barry
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus
We say: Everton 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Games involving Everton and Nottingham Forest have often been tight affairs and another could be in store this weekend. Indeed, no more than two goals have been scored across the last 10 meetings.
A resurgent Forest side will back themselves to prevail, but we can envisage the Toffees coming away with at least a point on home soil, despite the absence of a few key players.
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