Nottingham Forest host Aston Villa on Saturday, with Forest hoping to capitalise on the momentum of their historic win over Manchester United.
Forest beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in a result that truly cemented their credentials as a contender for European football this season, leaving them fifth in the Premier League table.
To consolidate this position even further, Forest must get a strong result against Aston Villa who visit the City Ground on Saturday level on points with their hosts.
Villa will be worried about Chris Wood as he has a history of late goals against them, whilst Leon Bailey remains doubtful for Villa, much to the benefit of Forest.
Regardless of any margins that either side can gain, though, this will clearly be an incredibly tight affair, leaving Peter Crouch and Steve Sidwell struggling to predict the outcome.
Peter Crouch predicts Forest game that ‘defines the season’
Speaking on the Peter Crouch Podcast, Crouch and Sidwell struggled to pick between Forest and Villa.
Crouch said: ‘It’s an interesting clash this one and it’s one I don’t really know where to go with really. Forest are obviously doing really really well, another great win for them on the weekend [vs Manchester United] and Chris Wood is on fire.”
Sidwell was also on the fence, saying: “I think this is close. Put it this way, this game last season you would’ve banked on Villa. […] You could probably say it’s roles reversed a little bit, especially with Forest at home which is a tough place to go.”
Eventually, Sidwell settled on a 1-1 draw, identical to Chris Sutton’s prediction of Forest vs Villa which highlights the difficulty that pundits are having when splitting the two sides.
Crouch was braver in his pick, though, saying: “I’m going to go 2-1 Forest, I think this could be the game that defines the season.”
Could Forest recover from a season-defining defeat to Aston Villa?
If the worst-case scenario were to come true for Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest could drop as far down as 10th if the sides directly below them were also to win.
This shows how tight the Premier League currently is, so a loss on Saturday against Villa could be recovered from as long as confidence doesn’t slip from the Forest squad.
After Villa, Forest travel to Brentford who sit just two points behind them currently. If Forest were to lose in London too, the European dream may look to be slipping away slightly.
Unai Emery praised Espirito Santo for the work he has done at Forest thus far, so whilst Crouch’s season-defining comment may have truth in it, the club should remain calm if a loss were to occur on Saturday knowing that the Forest manager is best placed to reignite the European challenge.
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