Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest will both be aiming to bounce back from weekend defeats in Tuesday's Premier League contest at the Amex Stadium.
The Seagulls were put to the sword 2-0 by Brentford on Friday night, while Steve Cooper's underperforming crop suffered a 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Match preview
© Reuters
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi showed plenty of fight on the touchline when squaring up to Brentford counterpart Thomas Frank, but it was not the same story for his players on the field, as the Bees stung the Seagulls in a 2-0 success in front of their own fans.
Sending quite the selection message to Gareth Southgate, Ivan Toney's cheeky backheel and emphatic penalty got the job done for Brentford, who were forced to rely on the impenetrable David Raya to keep Brighton at bay throughout the 90 minutes.
Still waiting for his first win as Seagulls boss after taking over from Chelsea-bound Graham Potter, De Zerbi has witnessed Brighton pick up just one point from nine on offer in recent weeks, and the South-Coast outfit have slipped to seventh in the rankings as a result.
Brighton's position in the table will not change no matter what transpires later on Sunday, but it is now just one win in five outings for Tuesday's hosts, whose seven-game Premier League unbeaten run at the Amex Stadium was brought to an end by Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
For all of their defensive resilience in the early stages of the campaign, Brighton have now shipped 10 goals in their last five top-flight matches, and De Zerbi will welcome the visit of a Nottingham Forest side that just cannot snap their profligate streak on the road.
© Reuters
With Wolves only scoring three Premier League goals all season and Nottingham Forest making the net ripple just once away from home, sparks were never going to fly in Saturday's Molineux encounter, and the game followed the script to a tee.
It was a tale of two penalties in the West Midlands, as Wolves' returning captain Ruben Neves stepped up to power home from 12 yards after 56 minutes, but Forest were presented with their own opportunity to make a spot kick count in the 79th minute.
Matheus Nunes was penalised for a tug on Ryan Yates, but Jose Sa was equal to Brennan Johnson's penalty in a humbling experience for Nottingham Forest, whose social media team pre-emptively put out a tweet of Emmanuel Dennis with three young wolf cubs captioned "playtime" before the game.
However, playtime was over for Cooper's side, as Wolves' media department humorously reminded them with their own post at full time, and the newly-promoted outfit now occupy 20th place in the table following Leicester City's point against Crystal Palace.
It is now six defeats and a draw in Forest's last seven Premier League games, including three straight away losses by an aggregate scoreline of 11-0, but Cooper has been handed a vote of confidence from the powers-that-be to turn his side's fortunes around and is now under pressure to prove that new deal was indeed warranted.
Forest did run out 3-0 winners the last time that the two sides met in the 2016-17 Championship season, but Brighton secured victory by the same scoreline at the Amex that same year, and it is not impossible to envisage a similar scenario on Tuesday as Forest fruitlessly search for a golden touch on the road.
Team News
© Reuters
Brighton were rocked by the news of Enock Mwepu's retirement at the age of just 24 due to a hereditary heart condition before the loss to Brentford, and De Zerbi has now been handed a fresh injury concern with Kaoru Mitoma.
The Japanese winger came on for Pervis Estupinan at half time on Friday but took a knock to the ankle, and he is not in the squad for the visit of Forest alongside Levi Colwill and Jan Paul van Hecke. Jakub Moder, meanwhile, is a long-term absentee.
De Zerbi affirmed after the defeat to Brentford that he has not seen a need to make wholesale alterations, but Adam Lallana is confirmed to be starting, which could see Pascal Gross drop out of the XI.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest remain without Moussa Niakhate (thigh), Jack Colback (back) and Omar Richards (calf) for the trip south, and Cooper also has a number of fresh concerns to assess.
Serge Aurier is touch-and-go with a muscular injury, Renan Lodi is nursing a knock to the ankle, and Lewis O'Brien is fighting to recover from illness in time for Tuesday.
Johnson's penalty miss capped off a disappointing display from the Wales international, who could now cede his spot to Jesse Lingard or Taiwo Awoniyi, while Orel Mangala is pushing to come in for Cheikhou Kouyate in the middle.
Scott McKenna is now just one yellow card away from serving a one-game ban, but the 25-year-old will expect to form the protective barrier in front of Dean Henderson with Steve Cook once more.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Lamptey, Dunk, Webster, Estupinan; March, Caicedo, Mac Allister, Lallana, Trossard; Welbeck
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Williams, Cook, McKenna, Toffolo; Mangala, Yates, Freuler; Lingard; Awoniyi, Dennis
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Nottingham Forest
The visit of a Nottingham Forest side whose attacking struggles away from home are well-documented spells optimism for De Zerbi, who ought to be feeling confident about his chances of posting a first win as Seagulls boss at the fourth attempt.
Brighton were not without their opportunities at the Brentford Community Stadium - Raya was simply having a blinder on the day - and we are backing the Seagulls to dust themselves down and prolong the Tricky Trees' misery on the road with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
