reuters.com
An intriguing Friday night fixture awaits at Portman Road as Ipswich Town host Nottingham Forest. Both sides head into this Matchweek game looking to bounce back from narrow defeats last weekend. The hosts are currently in 10th place. After securing promotion, the Tractor Boys have impressed, putting together a solid start that has them sitting comfortably in the top half. Though they lost 2-3 away to Manchester City last time out, their wins this term have come against teams in the lower half of the table, setting up a blueprint they will look to repeat here. Nottingham Forest are in 19th place, while the pressure on the team is mounting. They are searching for consistency after dropping three consecutive league matches, most recently a tight 0-1 defeat to Arsenal. The mood in the Ipswich camp is generally is good given their competitive adjustment to life back in the top flight. However, defensively they have found clean sheets hard to come by, which usually makes for open, high-scoring affairs at Portman Road. For Forest, this is a vital opportunity to stabilize their campaign and escape for a while from the danger zone. We could expect a tense, hard-fought battle under the Friday night lights. Last time when these two met Forest manage to win 4-2 at Portman Road.
