Fulham vs Nottingham Forest Predictions

• Nottingham Forest have won four of their last five Premier League away games
• Fulham have failed to win any of their last five league matches at Craven Cottage
• Chris Wood has scored seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances to take his tally to 17 for the season

Forest flowing in the right direction

Another tight contest is in prospect when Champions League-chasing Nottingham Forest swap the banks of the Trent for a day by the Thames against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Marco Silva’s men took the points with a 1-0 win at the City Ground in August when only a Raul Jimenez penalty separated the sides.

The decision to award the spot-kick after a VAR check was a contentious one and Forest were denied an appeal of equal merit later in the game. The main reason why they didn’t perform to the level they have subsequently shown in the Premier League, however, is because Nuno Espirito Santo did not yet know his best team.

Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi were left on the bench but, after the Tricky Trees’ root and branch destruction of Brighton and Hove Albion earlier this month, it is fair to say the Portuguese coach now has a good idea of his best XI.

Hard to like Fulham at home

That 7-0 victory was a massive statement from Nuno’s men, who were beaten 5-0 by Bournemouth the week before. However, Forest’s fortunes in any game tend to be shaped by the first goal — if they get it then they are ideally set up to exploit the game state but they are not great when forced to chase an equaliser.

That is likely to be the case again on Saturday when they come up against a Fulham side who have achieved better results away from home of late. The Cottagers have won three of their last four Premier League road trips but clinched only four such victories at Craven Cottage from 12 attempts this term.

It is hard to like a team with no win in their last five home league games — especially when they are coming up against the second-best away team in the table.

Wood and Elanga can make a difference

Fulham flopped at home to Manchester United recently when Silva paid the visitors far too much respect. He may do the same again when faced by another Portuguese tactician in the opposite dugout.

If the game is reduced to one of few chances then the team with the most in-form attackers surely has the best chance of taking it, although that is probably true of any game. Forest’s forward line are full of goals at the moment with Chris Wood’s hat-trick against the Seagulls taking his tally to 17 for the campaign and Anthony Elanga registering six assists in his last six league games.

Wood is the obvious anytime goalscorer bet here, but Elanga could be a bigger thorn in Fulham’s side down the right if Antonee Robinson gets caught upfield. Fulham’s forwards have not been firing on as many cylinders as Forest’s and that is another reason to side with the visitors here, although in the anticipation of a tight game, take the Reds in the Draw no Bet market.