In a make-or-break game for their Premier League survival chances, Southampton travel to the City Ground to meet fellow basement battlers Nottingham Forest on Monday evening.
Both sides failed to hang onto one-goal leads in their most recent losses, as the Tricky Trees were cruelly sunk 2-1 by Brentford, while the Saints were seen off 3-1 by Newcastle United.
Match preview
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So often the saviour of his side's bacon, Paris Saint-Germain loanee Keylor Navas cannot erase last weekend's visit of Brentford quickly enough, as Nottingham Forest went down to their London rivals in the most gut-wrenching of circumstances.
Danilo's second goal in as many matches propelled Steve Cooper's men into the ascendancy just before the half-time whistle sounded, but Ivan Toney's late free kick deflected off the head of Navas and into the back of the net before Josh Dasilva beat the Costa Rican at his near post with virtually the last kick of the game.
A VAR decision over a potential Yoane Wissa offside for Dasilva's winner did not go Forest's way either, understandably leaving Cooper and his players "fuming" as their efforts counted for nought at this pivotal point of the season, leaving them down in 18th place, but still only below Leeds United on goal difference due to the Whites' defeat to Manchester City.
However, having beaten a high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion while also handing Liverpool a few scares in their five-goal Anfield loss, there is clearly no shortage of belief in this expensively-assembled Forest squad, although there is most certainly a shortage of defensive acumen; Cooper's men are now without a clean sheet in 13 successive games.
The City Ground turf has often been kind to those in red, though, as only Newcastle United and Manchester United have beaten Cooper's men in Nottinghamshire since the start of October, and a seventh home win of the season could more or less seal their visitors' fate.
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A penny for Newcastle fans' thoughts as Southampton stunned Eddie Howe's side through Stuart Armstrong's 41st-minute opener, leaving the dumbstruck Magpies faithful scratching their heads as their podium-pursuing team entered the break 1-0 down to their 20th-placed opponents.
However, an inspired attacking alteration turned the tide in Newcastle's favour, as half-time substitute Callum Wilson bagged a brace either side of Theo Walcott's own goal to sink the Saints and accelerate their seemingly inevitable demotion to Championship territory.
Ruben Selles is not waving the white flag, but defeat to Forest would leave Southampton nine points adrift of the Tricky Trees with just three games remaining, while a win for Leicester City - who are also on 30 points alongside Forest - over Fulham earlier on Monday would also put the Saints on the brink of the drop.
Still needing to tackle three top-half teams in Fulham, Brighton and Liverpool, even the glass-half-full Saints fans will slowly lose hope without a satisfactory result on Monday, when their side could extend their miserable winless run to 10 matches since overcoming Leicester at the beginning of March.
A solitary goal from Taiwo Awoniyi was all that it took for Forest to run out 1-0 winners over Southampton at St Mary's back in January, which incredibly represents the Tricky Trees' only Premier League victory on the road this term, and Selles's side may live to fight another day with a successful revenge mission on Monday.
Team News
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Forest's club doctors are still having to work overtime at the worst possible point of the season, as Danilo and Brennan Johnson both sustained injuries in the loss to Brentford, and Cooper could not guarantee that either man would be fit to play a part on Monday.
All of Giulian Biancone (knee), Dean Henderson (thigh), Chris Wood (thigh), Scott McKenna (shoulder), Willy Boly (thigh), Neco Williams (jaw), Omar Richards (calf) and Gustavo Scarpa (calf) are taking up beds in the fully-occupied infirmary, and it remains to be seen if Jack Colback (concussion) and Jonjo Shelvey (knock) will be fit to return.
Either Remo Freuler or Ryan Yates - who is just back from his own shoulder problem - will expect to be given the nod in place of Danilo, while Jesse Lingard and Emmanuel Dennis should battle it out to take the place of Johnson if need be.
As for Southampton, left-back Romain Perraud has undergone surgery on an ankle problem and will miss the rest of the season, joining Juan Larios (thigh), Mohammed Salisu (groin) and Valentino Livramento (fitness) on the sidelines.
Selles made the peculiar call to drop Gavin Bazunu in favour of the more experienced Alex McCarthy against Newcastle, and the latter may retain possession of the gloves after his manager hailed his previous end-of-season exploits.
Armstrong may have done enough to hold his spot in midfield thanks to his opener at St James' Park, but Che Adams is a contender to come in for Moussa Djenepo in an attacking shake-up.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Navas; Felipe, Worrall, Niakhate; Aurier, Freuler, Mangala, Lodi; Gibbs-White, Lingard; Awoniyi
Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Lyanco, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters; Lavia, Ward-Prowse; S. Armstrong, Alcaraz, Sulemana; Adams
We say: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Southampton
With untimely concerns over the fitness of in-form midfielder Danilo and star forward Johnson, whose 17 goals at the City Ground is at least 10 more than any other Forest man since the start of last season, the injury-ravaged Tricky Trees could be in for a challenging night.
Cooper's men are seldom outfought on their own turf, but Southampton will not get a better chance to put points on the board between now and the end of the season. In a clash where almost anything could happen, a closely-contested draw seems a plausible outcome, but the win that Saints fans crave so dearly should elude them as their slide towards the trapdoor continues.
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