Nottingham Forest play host to struggling West Ham United at the City Ground this weekend.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have opened up their Premier League account with one win and a draw, leaving them in fifth place.
Forest almost won it late against Crystal Palace on the weekend as summer arrival Igor Jesus smashed the crossbar late on.
West Ham, meanwhile, have lost 3-0 to Sunderland and 5-1 to Chelsea, with new goalkeeper Mads Hermansen having a difficult start to life in East London.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, the Premier League have just made an announcement which Nottingham Forest will have no complaints about.
Craig Pawson.
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
Craig Pawson to referee Nottingham Forest vs West Ham United
Nottingham Forest’s issues with PGMOL are well-documented, with Evangelos Marinakis believing his club have been on the wrong end of far too many controversial decisions in recent seasons.
However, for Sunday’s game, the Premier League have placed Craig Pawson in charge of proceedings at the City Ground.
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Pawson has a very clean record when officiating Forest, having only handed out one red card in 19 games.
That came back in November 2019 in a goalless draw against Bristol City, with Ryan Yates given his marching orders for violent conduct.
Pawson took the reins of four Forest games last term, with two wins against Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur and two defeats against Bournemouth and Everton.
Nottingham Forest recent record vs West Ham United
Nottingham Forest have a very good recent record against Sunday’s opponents as they’ve won three on the trot.
25 Feb 2023 West Ham United v Nottingham Forest L 4-0 Premier League
12 Nov 2023 West Ham United v Nottingham Forest L 3-2 Premier League
17 Feb 2024 Nottingham Forest v West Ham United W 2-0 Premier League
02 Nov 2024 Nottingham Forest v West Ham United W 3-0 Premier League
18 May 2025 West Ham United v Nottingham Forest W 1-2 Premier League
Forest did the double over the Hammers last season, including a thumping 3-0 win at the City Ground back in November.
Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina all got onto the scoresheet, so they’ll be hoping to do the same on the weekend.
Nuno will no doubt be keen to test Hermansen after his shaky start in goal, so expect a number of set-pieces and long throw-ins.