Nottingham Forest will be looking for revenge after they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Burnley. Steve Cooper’s team entered the international break after defeating Chelsea 1-0. Their opponents were routed 5-2 by a ruthless Tottenham Hotspur.
Preview (Nottingham Forest vs. Burnley)
Cooper’s team lost to their opponents this weekend in the early round of the EFL Cup. There was no sign of a knockout hangover from Fores. They handed Chelsea an all-too-familiar Stamford Bridge loss thanks to a second-half Anthony Elanga goal. The Elanga-Taiwo Awoniyi combination once again excelled for Nottingham Forest, who defended fiercely and thanked their lucky stars when Nicolas Jackson’s misfiring missed a golden opportunity to tie the score for the visitors. Forest started the weekend in ninth place in the rankings with six points earned from four games. They have subsequently dropped to 12th as a result of Saturday’s results.
Forest have impressively won each of their last four Premier League games at the City Ground, but they haven’t won five straight games in the top flight at home since the days of Brian Clough in 1991, despite defeating Sheffield United in their season-opening home game. Burnley is attempting to disrupt the City Ground celebration and hand Forest its 100th Premier League defeat. Burnley has experience silencing Nottingham crowds. They advanced to the third round of the EFL Cup on August 30.
Burnley’s poor start to their Premier League homecoming has left them rooted to the bottom of the standings as one of just two teams without a point, the other being Luton Town. Aside from their narrow victory in the knockout game, however, Burnley supporters have not had much to cheer about. Burnley had the luxury of playing each of their first three games on the Turf Moor field thanks to the postponement of a scheduled matchup against the Hatters at Kenilworth Road.
Team News
The Nottingham Forest Hospital does feel more empty now. Danilo is anticipated to miss the game due to the thigh injury he sustained against Chelsea. His match-winning replacement Elanga returned from Sweden duty with a hamstring problem of his own. Danilo wasn’t the only victim of the victory over Chelsea. Wayne Hennessey is gradually recovering from a knee issue. Serge Aurier hobbled off the pitch and joined Elanga on the touch-and-go list.
Odysseas Vlachodimos, one of numerous late newcomers eager for debuts with Divock Origi, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nicolas Dominguez, Ibrahim Sangare, and Andrew Omobamidele, has pushed Hennessey lower down the goalkeeping pecking order. For Burnley, Aaron Ramsey (concussion) and Vitinho (knee) have both recovered from their injuries, and Kompany will be happy to see Anass Zaroury return from his three-game suspension.
However, none of Darko Churlinov (blood poisoning), Michael Obafemi (hamstring), or Hjalmar Ekdal (knee) should be making their comeback anytime soon. Zaroury’s return could endanger Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s position out wide. Han-Noah Massengo and Mike Tresor were both signed by the Clarets during the end of the transfer window. Both players could make their debuts here, but Tresor has been battling recent hamstring issues. Despite winning this match in the EFL Cup, Burnley’s trip to the City Ground seemed guaranteed to be another painful experience for Kompany’s soldiers because of their inconsistent attacking play and alarming goal-scoring rate.
Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Burnley
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