Chris Sutton predicts West Ham United result in clash with Nottingham Forest amid injury crisis
Chris Sutton has predicted West Ham will bounce back with a Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground this weekend.
The defensive injury crisis fed into the opening weekend defeat by Manchester City, as they went down 2-0 to an Erling Haaland brace.
Forest’s long-awaited return to the top flight ended in a loss by the same scoreline at Newcastle, and while it will be the first time the home fans have seen Premier League football from their seats in over 20 years Sutton thinks the Hammers boss will find a way to pull out a 2-1 away win.
In his predictions for the BBC Sport website he said: “This is not going to be easy for West Ham. It’s Forest’s first home game back in the Premier League so they will have a real go at them.
“The Hammers still have injury problems at the back too, but I just think the nous of their manager David Moyes will see them edge it.”
Bounce back
The summer has built to give Hammers fans a fair amount of optimism for the new season, despite some notable set backs, but most of that was wiped out last weekend.
Despite signing a centre-back in Nayef Aguerd the Moroccan’s injury was coupled with Angelo Ogbonna not being fit yet and Craig Dawson also having a problem to the point where Ben Johnson ended up starting in the middle.
Issa Diop didn’t want to play as he was headed for a move to Fulham so it was clearly far from ideal to be starting your sixth-choice against the reigning champions.
Fans minded to drown their sorrows on the concourse at the London Stadium also had to contend with £7.30 pints, which has brought about the threat of legal action from the club.
There is a chance that Dawson might be back for the Forest trip, which would be a huge boost, as the atmosphere is sure to be considerable.
Jesse Lingard will of course be looking to respond to a disappointing first game for his new side against West Ham, after he snubbed a return to east London this summer.
But if Gianluca Scamacca is ready for increased involvement and Maxwel Cornet is in the squad there will be a lot for the manager to throw at Steve Cooper as he looks to get the team’s first points on the board.