Nottingham Forest v Brentford - Match Preview

Nottingham Forest stumbled to a third defeat in four matches last Saturday when they were beaten 2-0 away at Birmingham City which means that new manager Martin O’Neill has lost two of his first three games in charge of the Tricky Trees.

This was not the start that many Forest fans had envisaged as one of the prodigal sons had recently returned to the City Ground where he’d spent a very successful period under the legendary manager, Brian Clough.

However, that defeat to Birmingham have left Nottingham Forest in a disappointing mid-table position where they are now worse off than when former manager Aitor Karanka was in charge - Forest were in 7th place and just four points adrift of the play-off pack, but they find themselves in 12th place and five points behind.

Recent results also haven’t gone the host’s way as they’ve lost three of their last five at the City Ground despite beating Leeds United 4-2 (which, ironically, was to be Karanka’s penultimate game in charge for Forest).

Forwards Grabban (14 goals) and Lolley (7 goals) are Forest’s main threats in attack here.

Although Brentford FC remain in the bottom half of the Championship, the visitors have chalked up three wins on the trot with victories registered against Stoke City, Rotherham United and an emphatic 5-2 win over Blackburn Rovers despite being 2-0 down.

The Bees are actually unbeaten in their last seven matches overall in the second tier as Thomas Frank’s side have rekindled the kind of form that the London club enjoyed under former manager, Dean Smith, while results away from home have also picked up in recent weeks.

Brentford have lost just once in their last five matches which was a 2-0 loss at Hull City, but they’ve gained valuable points away at West Brom, Bristol City and Birmingham City in 1-1, 1-1 and 0-0 draws respectively, as well as a 4-2 win at Rotherham United.

Despite Brentford’s problems away from home overall though, the visitors have scored in 10 of their 14 away matches to date and with the likes of leading goalscorer Maupay (17 goals) up front, The Bees will always carry a sting going forward.

Nottingham Forest at home and Brentford away from home have yet to really convince, but at least we should see both teams score in this clash.