Nottingham Forest striker Lorenzo Lucca has had a bit of an indifferent start to life at the City Ground.
He scored in his debut appearances against Leeds, with Lucca coming off the bench and finding the net to secure a consolation goal for the Reds.
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Against Wolves, he was handed a start and fluffed his lines to miss Forest’s biggest chance of the night as Sean Dyche found himself sacked after a goalless draw.
With Forest 3-0 up on Fenerbahce ahead of Thursday’s second leg in the Europa League last-32 clash, Lucca could now be the perfect option for Vitor Pereira to pick to lead the line.
Lorenzo Lucca scores for Nottingham Forest.
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Lorenzo Lucca should start amid Fenerbahce crisis
Things have gone badly wrong for Forest’s opponents on Thursday night after playing against Kasimpasa three days before the huge European clash.
In last night’s game, Caglar Soyuncu was substituted due to an injury that will rule him out for three weeks at the very least and with Jayden Oosterwolde suspended and Milan Skriniar injured from the first leg, Fenerbahce have a shortage of defenders.
Last night, Matteo Guendouzi and N’Golo Kante finished the game at centre-back, and given the huge size advantage Lucca has on the latter, he surely has to start on Thursday night.
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Lucca needs to get his confidence up ahead of a busy end to the season for Forest and the only way he’s going to do that is by playing games.
Fenerbahce have a number of injured players ahead of Thursday and given that they’re 3-0 down, it would appear as though Domenico Tedesco might simply play a weakened team at the City Ground.
That could be perfect in order for Lucca to step up, and with Brighton coming into the Premier League on Sunday, Forest would be wise to tread with caution with their selection too.
Lucca needs the right players around him
If Lucca does get the nod to play on Thursday night, it’s important that the right players are picked to play alongside him in the final third.
Omari Hutchinson is the obvious player who needs to play with his left-footed in-swinging cross, likely to favour Lucca, winning plenty of headers in the box.
Lucca is going to be needed between now and the end of the season as Forest aim to remain in the Premier League and as a result, minutes are what he needs.
The striker hasn’t done a lot just yet and although he’s not done a lot wrong either, the injury updates from Fenerbahce suggest that a makeshift defensive unit could make for an enjoyable night for Lucca.
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