Chris Sutton has made his weekly pre-match prediction for Chelsea’s trip to Nottingham this weekend.
Chelsea travel to the City Ground on Saturday evening to face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
The Blues are back in the race for the European positions by climbing up to seventh in the league table, largely down to the side’s much improved home form. Mauricio Pochettino’s side have won their previous four consecutive matches at Stamford Bridge.
So, can Chelsea address their indifferent away form when they visit Forest in Saturday’s game? They’ve not won an away fixture in the Premier League since 12 February against Crystal Palace.
Chris Sutton predicts Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea
BBC pundit Chris Sutton has been previewing the upcoming league meeting between Forest and Chelsea.
Chelsea are looking to keep up the momentum with this strong end to the season, while 17th-placed Forest are still trying to make sure of their top-flight status for another year.
Sutton can’t seem to split the teams in his prediction:
“By the time this game kicks off, Nottingham Forest will know how Luton and Burnley have done. They could be as good as safe… or under a lot of pressure,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“Chelsea have hit a bit of form and Mauricio Pochettino is showing why he always deserved to get time with this team, because they have found more consistency the longer the season has gone on.
“But Forest have got some good players and I can see them getting a point out of this, which might be enough to make it absolutely certain they are staying up.
“Sutton’s prediction: 1-1.”
Time for Nicolas Jackson’s revenge
Chelsea suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Forest back in September in the reverse fixture, so Pochettino should be lighting a fire in his players to exact some revenge.
Blues striker Nicolas Jackson, 22, is one player that should be particularly motivated to silence the home supporters in Nottingham.
The Athletic reported last September that Forest’s travelling fans taunted Jackson with the chant ‘what a waste of money’. This came after he missed a glorious late chance to equalise when he fired a shot over the crossbar.
Thankfully, Jackson’s only kicked on during this first year as a Chelsea player, scoring 16 goals across all competitions so far. This includes three goals in his last two league games.
It would be great to see Jackson deliver a top goalscoring performance on Saturday.