Leeds United host Nottingham Forest this evening in a massive clash as the bottom end of the Premier League.
Tonight, Elland Road plays host to our biggest game of the season so far as Nottingham Forest make their way to West Yorkshire.
Both sides sit six clear of the relegation zone, and will be fancying the chances of moving nine in front of West Ham this evening.
“This is big” – Chris Sutton previews Leeds United v Nottingham Forest
BBC pundit Chris Sutton has previewed this evening’s fixture, rightly acknowledging the importance of the match for both sides.
In particular, getting points on the board against the sides around us is massive, according to Sutton. He predicts the score here.
“I am at this game and we are getting to the stage where it really matters how the teams fighting relegation do in their head-to-head-battles like this,” Sutton writes.
“I think Wolves and Burnley are down, but you don’t know what West Ham will do from here. There are signs they may click. So, with Leeds and Nottingham Forest both on 26 points, this is big for both of them.
“From a Leeds point of view, their home form has carried them a lot this season. They got walloped at Elland Road by Arsenal last weekend but they just have to put that behind them for this game because, as the season has gone on, they have proved they can be competitive.”
Chris Sutton points to Nottingham Forest away form despite Leeds United win prediction
Sean Dyche’s Forest come to Elland Road boasting a strong away record this season. According to Sutton, that could stand them in good stead.
“Forest’s away form is actually better than their home form,” Sutton continued. “They have picked up 14 points on the road compared to 12 at the City Ground. Sean Dyche’s side were comfortable with 10 men in the draw against Crystal Palace and they have won their past two away games, against Brentford and the Hammers. Overall, they are unbeaten in four league games, which is the longest they have gone without losing all season.
“This is going to be a very tight affair and Forest won’t worry about having much possession, but scoring goals has been a bigger problem for them because they have missed Chris Wood badly. Only Wolves have scored fewer than them. Forest have brought in 6ft 7in striker Lorenzo Lucca on loan from Napoli to try to fill the gap left by Wood’s long-term knee injury but he has not been in great form in Serie A this season.”
In spite of Forest being handy on their travels from the City Ground, there’s an optimism from Sutton that Leeds will come away with three points, predicting a 2-1 home victory.
“So, after a great deal of thought, I am going to back Leeds at home,” Sutton finished.
Leeds United could move very close to survival by beating Nottingham Forest
I don’t personally think that this game is ‘win or bust’ for Leeds. Losing here would be gutting and leaves us worryingly looking over our shoulders. But, we’ve got home games to come that should see us through still.
That being said, I’ll be very annoyed if we can’t get three points here. We’re against a side that are below us on goal difference, have injuries of their own, and are coming to a formidable stadium tonight.
A win here would be absolutely massive, though. It puts us nine clear before West Ham’s game tomorrow at Burnley.
Being on the cusp of 30 points in February is a real statement that we can see out the survival battle.
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