West Ham vs Nottingham Forest Premier League preview, team news and prediction

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Nottingham Forest have the chance to pile more pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo when they face their former manager and his struggling West Ham United side in Tuesday's Premier League clash at the London Stadium.

West Ham suffered yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Wolves over the weekend - their first and only win so far of the Premier League season - while Forest were outclassed by title contenders Aston Villa. Now, Santo—who previously managed both Wolves and Forest—faces the prospect of consecutive defeats against his former clubs. If Tuesday’s relegation battle goes as badly as West Ham’s trip to Molineux, Santo could find himself out of a job.

Against a Wolves team that had only managed three points all season, West Ham produced a dismal performance, losing 3-0 in a match Santo described as “embarrassing” with Mateus Mane starring for the hosts. Meanwhile, speculation is growing that former Hammers boss Slaven Bilic could return to the London Stadium, leaving Santo’s position increasingly precarious. The statistics do little to help his case: West Ham sit 18th in the table and will remain in the relegation zone regardless of this week’s results. They are winless in nine Premier League matches since beating Burnley in November, losing four of their last five. Santo also holds the league’s longest run without a clean sheet—26 games—and West Ham have yet to keep a home shutout this season, conceding 23 goals at the London Stadium.

Forest’s situation is less desperate, but after a brief resurgence under Sean Dyche, they have now lost four consecutive matches during a tough festive period. The Tricky Trees ended 2025 with three straight defeats to Fulham, Manchester City, and Everton, and were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday, with Ollie Watkins and John McGinn doing the damage. Despite this, Dyche’s side cannot drop into the bottom three before the weekend but are nonetheless hovering above the relegation zone.

However, Forest are now on their joint-longest losing streak of the season and could suffer a fourth straight away defeat, having failed to score in five Premier League road games in 2025-26. Earlier in the campaign, Forest endured a 3-0 home defeat to West Ham under Santo’s leadership, but they had previously won three consecutive meetings with the Irons, including a 2-1 victory at the London Stadium last May.

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West Ham may have left Molineux mentally shaken, but they at least avoided any new injury setbacks. New signing Pablo Felipe, recently arrived from Gil Vicente, was named among the substitutes, and Taty Castellanos could also make his debut in this fixture. However, Lucas Paqueta (back) and Jean-Clair Todibo (groin) both missed the last match and will require late fitness tests, while El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka remain away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

In midfield, both Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts were substituted at halftime against Wolves following a poor team display, so Tomas Soucek is likely to come into the starting lineup.

On the Forest side, new goalkeeper John Victor endured a difficult afternoon, leaving the pitch in tears with a suspected calf injury after his mistake led to McGinn’s second goal. Sean Dyche remains uncertain about the extent of Victor’s injury, but Matz Sels is expected to reclaim the starting spot for Tuesday’s match. Callum Hudson-Odoi (knock) and Dan Ndoye (calf) are both doubtful and will be assessed closer to kickoff.

Forest will definitely be without Chris Wood (knee), Ryan Yates (thigh), and AFCON absentees Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare. Arnaud Kalimuendo is also unlikely to feature, as he is close to completing a move to Eintracht Frankfurt.

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