Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 English Premier League
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Enzo Maresca's goal-hungry side welcome Nottingham Forest, who have impressed on the road this season, to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 6th October, 2024: UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – NBC, USA Network & Peacock
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – nbc.com & Fubo
CHELSEA PREVIEW: THE PALMER SHOW
A stunning performance from four-goal Cole Palmer against an admittedly abject Brighton defence handed Chelsea a 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge last Saturday to make it three Premier League victories in a row for Enzo Maresca's expensively-assembled side.
The Blues repeated that scoreline on Thursday with victory over Gent in the UEFA Europa League to make it five straight wins in all competitions, while they have scored 16 goals in their last four games overall.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST PREVIEW: FIRST SETBACK
Nottingham Forest delivered their weakest performance of the season last weekend when they fell to a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Fulham, in what was their first league defeat of the campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men are unbeaten away from home this season though. Indeed, stretching back to the previous campaign they have collected 13 points from the last 15 available in Premier League away games.
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS: JAMES STILL ABSENT
After illness kept him out of the midweek Europa League squad, Carney Chukwuemeka is a minor doubt for the weekend, while Reece James and reserve goalkeeper Omari Kellyman are definitely out.
Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku are all knocking on the door for Premier League starts, but Maresca could stick with an unchanged league line-up with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson once again trusted in the attacking areas.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
UNAVAILABLE: Kellyman (Injured), James (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Chukwuemeka (Illness)
NOTTINGHAM FOREST TEAM NEWS: GIBBS-WHITE BACK FROM SUSPENSION
Morgan Gibbs-White is a welcome returnee following his one-match ban and he will surely come straight back into the starting line-up, with Santo perhaps reverting to his preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
The previously injured Willy Boly was amongst the substitutes last weekend so Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare are now the only injured parties in the Forest treatment room.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Ward-Prowse, Anderson; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga; Wood
UNAVAILABLE: Danilo (Injured), Sangare (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
CHELSEA VS NOTTINGHAM FOREST PREDICTION
Chelsea appear to be scoring for fun right now with their undeniable attacking talent perhaps covering up for some vulnerabilities at the back. Heading in to the weekend, they have scored more goals than any other Premier League team, but Santo will set Forest up to make it difficult for them here.
Forest's win at Anfield last month will be used as a blueprint for success, and given their impressive away form, it could be worth backing a low-scoring game at Stamford Bridge.
CHELSEA VS NOTTINGHAM FOREST TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
