Nottingham Forest are next to visit the Gtech Community Stadium this season, with Steve Cooper’s side heading to west London with their heads just about above water in the relegation battle.
Wednesday’s 3-1 win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, their first victory in 12 Premier League matches, lifted Forest up to 17th in the table, out of the relegation zone by a point.
Thomas Frank’s Bees also picked up a long overdue success in midweek, a 2-0 victory at Chelsea ending a six-match winless streak.
The opposition
Brighton win could be crucial in relegation battle
It is still quite unbelievable to think Nottingham Forest were propping up the Championship when Steve Cooper took over in September 2021.
What followed was remarkable - no team in the division took more points than Forest over the next 38 games. Their tally of 76 (W22 D10 L6) was two better than eventual champions Fulham.
They then had to face the uncertainty of the Play-Offs, but after defeating Sheffield United in the semi-final all it took was a Levi Colwill own goal in the final against Huddersfield Town to secure a return to the top flight for the first time in 23 years.
All eyes were on the City Ground as the Reds geared up to take on the challenge of the Premier League. Throughout the summer, those eyes seldom moved due to one of the busiest transfer windows in recent history.
After striker Taiwo Awoniyi’s £17 million move from Union Berlin was ratified on 25 June, the club must have made several stationary orders as contract after contract was signed. In total, by 20 September, less than three months later, no fewer than 22 players had been brought in, either permanently or on loan.
By the World Cup break, it looked as though the chaotic exploits had come back to bite them. The form had improved by that point, but five-straight defeats from the end of August to the beginning of October had left Cooper’s side in 18th, with 13 points to their name after 15 games.
The run of defeats brought about intense speculation regarding Cooper’s future at the club, but instead, the Welshman was handed a new contract until the summer of 2025, instantly dispelling any rumours. “I don’t know how close that [being sacked] might have been,” he admitted.
Putting the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on their return to one side, things got a lot better for Forest at the start of the year, aided by the customary additions – of which they made six in January.
They beat fellow strugglers Southampton, Leicester City and Leeds United and held Chelsea, Bournemouth and Manchester City. By the start of March, they were only six points outside the top half.
However, 11 league games without a win, eight of which have been defeats, which sucked them back into a relegation battle.
Earlier this month, reports again suggested Cooper was on his way out. Owner Evangelos Marinakis released a statement insisting the speculation came from “false and disruptive reporting”, yet, in the same breath, issued a warning that results had to improve “immediately”.
But a superb 3-1 win over Brighton on Wednesday night at the City Ground shows signs of improvement for Forest, and could indicate that things might be on the up.
The gameplan
With Nottinghamshire Live's Sarah Clapson
Nottinghamshire Live's Nottingham Forest correspondent Sarah Clapson discusses Nottingham Forest's relegation chances, their key players, and how head coach Steve Cooper is likely to set his team up on Saturday in Hot off the Press.
"Recently they have gone into games with a low block and tried to hit teams on the counter, using the pace of Johnson and Gibbs-White.
"At this stage of the season, the fans want to see them have a go and it gets to a point where you have to roll the dice and really go for it, but I think they are still quite wary of trying to be tough to beat, though it does not really show in the results.
"They have tried a few different formations, so it is difficult to say exactly which one he will go with."
Team news
Three players unavailable for Forest fixture
Thomas Frank has confirmed that tomorrow's game will come too soon for a trio of Brentford players.
Christian Norgaard (Achilles), Kristoffer Ajer (hamstring) and Thomas Strakosha (calf) all missed Wednesday's win at Stamford Bridge and will be absent tomorrow too.
Pontus Jansson (hamstring) and Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) are likely out for the rest of the season.
Nottingham Forest lost three more players on Wednesday night to add to their extensive injury woes.
Neco Williams (broken jaw) is out for the rest of the season while Moussa Niakhate (thigh) and Taiwo Awoniyi (shoulder) are touch and go for tomorrow after going off in the win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Ryan Yates (shoulder), Gustavo Scarpa (knee) and Jack Colback (concussion) all missed Wednesday’s win at the City Ground but could return tomorrow.
Jonjo Shelvey could feature following his internal disciplinary issue but Dean Henderson (thigh), Giulian Biancone (knee), Chris Wood (thigh), Scott McKenna (collarbone), Omar Richards (leg) and Willy Boly (thigh) are all out for the season.
The manager
Steve Cooper
Steve Cooper began his coaching career in the youth set-up at Wrexham, before joining Liverpool as academy manager.
He spent four years on Merseyside before being appointed as head coach of the England Under-16 and then U17 national team.
During his three-year spell with the U17 side, Cooper oversaw a period of unprecedented success, winning the U17 World Cup in 2017, before leading his team to the semi-final of the European Championship the following year.
He played a key role in the development of several talented young players, including Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
After leaving the national team set-up in 2018, Cooper was appointed as head coach of Swansea City.
He led the Swans to a fourth-place finish in the Championship in his first season, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier League via the Play-Offs after a defeat to Brentford in the final.
Cooper's impressive work with Swansea earned him a move to Nottingham Forest.
After eight games of the 2021/22 campaign, the club were bottom of the second tier. However, after an incredible second half of the season, Cooper led Forest to the Play-Off final, where they beat Huddersfield Town 1-0, which saw them become a Premier League side for the first time since 1999.
Classic clash
Brentord 2 Nottingham Forest 1 (Sky Bet Championship, 21 November 2015)
Philipp Hofmann's stoppage-time goal secured a dramatic win for 10-man Brentford against Nottingham Forest in Lee Carsley’s final game as interim boss.
Hofmann's low shot won it for the Bees, who had Harlee Dean sent off earlier in the second half.
Sergi Canos put the hosts in front on 63 minutes. After John Swift's effort was saved by Dorus de Vries, the Spaniard pounced in the box to open the scoring.
Dean's dismissal after a scuffle over the ball with Jonny Williams at a set-piece was followed by Henri Lansbury’s equaliser, which came with 15 minutes to play.
But despite a numerical disadvantage, the home side showed more intent late on, with JamesTarkowski striking the post with a header, before Hofmann's calm finish snatched the three points.
Match officials
Peter Bankes to take charge of Bees for fifth time this season
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Edward Smart and Mark Scholes
Fourth official: Graham Scott
VAR: Neil Swarbrick
Assistant VAR: Daniel Robathan
Saturday’s game will be Peter Bankes’ 17th game in charge of Brentford, and the fifth of this Premier League season.
The Bees have lost just four of the previous 16 games under Bankes, memorably winning at Manchester City last November and drawing away at Arsenal in February.
Bankes’ first game in charge of the Bees was a 3-0 win over Forest in April 2016 and he took charge of a further win over the Tricky Trees at Griffin Park in September 2018.
This season’s four games have seen one win, at the Etihad, two draws, away at Leeds United and Arsenal, and a single defeat, at Fulham in August.
Despite showing the fourth-most yellow cards per Premier League game this campaign, the Merseyside official, who is in his fourth season in the Select Group One, has yet to award a penalty or show a red card in the top flight this term.
Nottingham Forest 22/23
377 fouls – fourth in Premier League
75 yellow cards – most in Premier League
0 red cards – joint-fewest in Premier League