(Football news) As they have had four points docked, Espirito Santo’s team has already earned one point; obtaining three more here would provide them with a significant advantage in the lower division battle. “We shall fight and we shall overcome” was written on a banner that was raised at the City Ground on Saturday, demonstrating the support that the Forest supporters had for the team despite Premier League penalties.

After losing to Luton at Tottenham and drawing 1-1 with Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest was able to escape the bottom three for the first time since they were given a four-point deduction. Under duress, Nuno managed to salvage a point thanks to Chris Wood’s outstanding header, despite trailing to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal and lucky to watch Eze miss two great opportunities.

The result did extend their run of form to just one win in 10 games though, as Forest have lost six Premier League games in 2024 already.

With an appeal against their points deduction pending, Nottingham Forest start the midweek schedule outside the bottom three on goal difference ahead of Luton, but they face a Fulham side who they have suffered against in recent seasons.

Nottingham Forest have lost their last four games against Fulham here at the City Ground, including a 3-2 defeat in their first-ever Premier League meeting last season.

They were also on the receiving end of a 5-0 humbling at Craven Cottage earlier this season, in a result that was the beginning of the end for fans-favourite Steve Cooper, who was soon sacked and replaced by Nuno.

Marco Silva, Nuno’s fellow Portugueseman, probably felt conflicted about his team’s performance during the team’s away game against Sheffield United, who are currently in last position. Although Fulham’s hopes of qualifying for Europe were dashed, as they were only able to draw 3–3 at Bramall Lane, Silva was happy with his team’s comeback after trailing 3–1 with five minutes remaining.

The Blades were denied a 4-1 lead due to a close VAR offside judgment, and Fulham capitalized with a spectacular acrobatic goal from in-form Rodrigo Muniz in injury time to steal a point. Having played more games than any of the teams around them, Fulham is still in 12th place, four points out of the top eight, which hurts their prospects of making a comeback to Europe after more than ten years away.

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