Nottingham Forest resume Premier League proceedings aiming for a primary win on the eighth try underneath Ange Postecoglou towards a Chelsea facet who defeated champions Liverpool final day trip.
BBC Sport examines a number of the key themes forward of Saturday’s lunchtime conflict on the Metropolis Floor.
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Postecoglou’s poor begin
5 defeats, two attracts and 15 targets conceded just isn’t the beginning Ange Postecoglou could have envisaged when changing Nuno Espirito Santo as Nottingham Forest boss.
The Australian has barely been within the job a month however is already going through query marks over his future, with experiences final weekend suggesting former supervisor Sean Dyche is ready within the wings ought to Forest’s poor type proceed.
Postecoglou has now misplaced 30 of his previous 49 Premier League video games with former membership and Forest, a current report that will not assist dissuade his detractors.
Nonetheless, Forest’s issues, notably in defence, predate Postecoglou’s arrival: they have not saved a clear sheet in any of their previous 15 Premier League video games, their joint-longest run since returning to the competitors in 2022.
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And the duty for Forest’s supervisor doesn’t get any simpler. Subsequent up, its Chelsea and Postecoglou has misplaced all 4 Premier League conferences towards the Blues.
Chelsea intention to again up Liverpool win
Chelsea counterpart Enzo Maresca had been underneath some stress following again to again defeats to and Bayern Munich, though a 2-1 victory towards Liverpool forward of the worldwide break has assuaged a number of the unease at Stamford Bridge.
Willian Estevao’s stoppage-time purpose knocked Liverpool off high spot within the Premier League and he’s one in all a number of key gamers whom Maresca will depend on as accidents proceed to take their toll on Chelsea’s squad.
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Maresca could possibly be lacking as much as 9 gamers for the journey to the Metropolis Floor, together with Cole Palmer, who has been dominated out for an additional six weeks because of an ongoing groin harm.
Within the absence of different star names, Chelsea’s key performer to date this season has undoubtedly been Moises Caicedo.
The combative Ecuador worldwide has been one of the crucial efficient midfielders within the Premier League this season, making extra tackles and extra interceptions than any participant to date.
Moises Caicedo has been in spectacular type this season for Chelsea [BBC]
On Saturday he’ll face one other in-form midfielder within the guise of Forest’s Elliot Anderson, who once more impressed on worldwide obligation with England within the World Cup qualifying win towards Latvia on Tuesday night time.
The 22-year-old has received again possession a league-high 55 occasions this season and his battle with Caicedo may go a protracted technique to deciding the end result of a vital match for Forest’s supervisor.