Just two points separate Fulham and Nottingham Forest heading into their meeting at Craven Cottage on Monday. BBC Sport looks at some of the key themes going into the match.
Historically, Fulham have enjoyed facing Nottingham Forest in the Premier League – they have won five of the six encounters in the competition, including all three at home. Their win rate of 83% is the highest against any side they have faced more than twice in the Premier League.
Monday night misery
However, the kick-off slot for this fixture is not one Fulham have enjoyed in recent years.
The Cottagers have lost seven of their past nine Monday night games in the Premier League, including their most recent against Bournemouth in April. They have, though, won their past two Monday night home games – against Wolves and Brentford.
The Cottagers have been strengthened by the return of attacking full-back Antonee Robinson, who made his first Premier League start of the season last weekend after recovering from a knee injury.
Robinson also started in Fulham’s EFL Cup quarter-final defeat at Newcastle in midweek, setting up Sasa Lukic for an equaliser.
It was Robinson’s 17th assist for Fulham since the start of the 2023-24 season – the only Premier League defender with more in that time is Tottenham’s Pedro Porro, with 19.
With Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi now away for the Africa Cup of Nations, head coach Marco Silva may look to Robinson to help the in-form Harry Wilson with creativity going forward.
Creative Callum
Wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga were crucial to Nottingham Forest’s success last season, causing problems for opposition teams down both flanks.
Elanga departed this summer in a £55m deal to join Newcastle, leaving Hudson-Odoi as the experienced wing option alongside summer signings Omari Hutchinson, Dan Ndoye and Dilane Bakwa.
Hudson-Odoi’s playing time has been restricted this season, with heavy rotation on the wings amid Forest’s instability because of their managerial situation.
Despite his limited minutes, Hudson-Odoi has still impressed and his first 90 minutes in over a month resulted in a double against Spurs last week – his first goals since August.
He ranks among the top wingers in the league per 90 minutes in some metrics, including chances created from open play – where no other winger with a minimum of 500 minutes has more.
With wingers crucial to his 4-2-3-1 system, Forest head coach Sean Dyche will be hoping Hudson-Odoi can continue to kick on and provide more attacking output throughout the busy festive period.
