An emailfrom Jeremy Boyce:
Surely Vards will have to go out in a blaze of glory, Jeremy, Skittles-vodka an’ all.
Lucas Paquetá is among the West Ham substitutesthis afternoon and his manager Graham Potter has revealed the ongoing investigation into whether the Brazilian breached betting rules is taking a toll on the player.
There’s plenty else going on around the footballing worldthis fine Sunday. Catch the final moments of the last ever Everton men’s fixture at Goodison Park, or the early knockings of the Women’s FA Cup final. Or stick with me here, if you wish.
Some stats:West Ham have won five of their six Premier League home games againstNottingham Forest, while Forest are seeking to complete their first league double over the Hammers since 1983/84.
In fairness, they haven’t been in the same division all that much in this century.
It’s crazy to think that20 points separated these two teams at the end of last season, with West Ham finishing in ninth on 52 points and Forest way down in 17th on just 32 points.
This season has seen a near-perfect reversal of those positions, with Forest currently on 62 points and West Ham on 40.
Just shows what can be achieved if you do/don’t have a plan.
West Ham (3-5-2):Areola; Todibo, Kilman, Cresswell; Coufal, Ward-Prowse, Rodríguez, Soucek, Wan-Bissaka; Bowen, Kudus.
Subs: Fabianski, Soler, Paquetá, Füllkrug, Mavropanos, Guilherme, Álvarez, Emerson, Ferguson.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1):Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangaré, Anderson; Gibbs-White, Domínguez, Elanga; Wood.
Subs: Miguel, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Toffolo, J. Silva, Yates, R. Sosa, Oliveira, Abbott.
Now then,Nottingham Foresthave an opportunity to set up a potential doozy of a final day Champions League qualification decider against Chelsea – providing they can see off West Ham at the London Stadium today.
Newcastle will have their say in the top five race when they face Arsenal later on, but for now Forest know that a win would propel them to 65 points – level with Manchester City (who play Bournemouth in midweek) and one point off fifth-placed Chelsea, the very team Forest face next weekend. Oooft. Any dropped points from Nuno Espírito Santo’s men, however, would realistically end their hopes of playing Champions League football next season – not that Europa League or Conference League qualification ought to be looked upon as a failure.
Still, having been riding as high as third for a long time this season, Forest fans will not want to see their side squander another chance to pick up vital points this afternoon, especially against a poor West Ham side whose only win in their past nine matches was at … an even worse Manchester United. The Hammers have little in the way of motivation, while you’d assume Forest will be bang up for it.
Kick off is at 2.15pm (BST)and team news will drop into the next post.