I am at this game and we are getting to the stage where it really matters how the teams fighting relegation do in their head-to-head-battles like this.
I think the bottom two, Wolves and Burnley are down, but you don’t know what West Ham will do from here.
There are signs they may click, so with Leeds and Nottingham Forest both on 26 points, this is big for both of them.
From a Leeds point of view, their home form has carried them a lot this season.
They got walloped at Elland Road by Arsenal last weekend but they just have to put that behind them for this game because, as the season has gone on, they have proved they can be competitive.
Forest’s away form is actually better than their home form – they have picked up 14 points on the road compared to 12 at the City Ground, in the same number of games.
Sean Dyche’s side were comfortable with 10 men in the draw against Crystal Palace last time out and they have won their past two away games, against Brentford and the Hammers. Overall, they are unbeaten in four league games, which is the longest they have gone without losing all season.
As you can see, I’ve looked into all the stats for you – but will my research help me get my prediction right? Probably not.
This is going to be a very tight affair and Forest won’t worry about having much possession, but scoring goals has been a bigger problem for them because they have missed Chris Wood badly – only Wolves have scored fewer than them.
Forest have brought in 6ft 7in striker Lorenzo Lucca on loan from Napoli to try to fill the gap left by Wood’s long-term knee injury but he has not been in great form in Serie A this season.
So, after a great deal of thought, I am going to back Leeds at home – although now I’ve said that it will probably end up as a 1-1 draw.
Sutton’s prediction: 2-1
Apollo’s prediction: When I looked at the fixtures I was thinking about who in the Gladiators supports who. Two of the guys, Giant and Hammer, are big Forest fans so I am going for a Leeds win here. It should be a good game though. 3-2
AI’s prediction: 2-1
