Nottingham Forest host Millwall in the Championship on Saturday afternoon as Chris Hughton's side look to extend their six-game unbeaten run.

Millwall are without a league win in their previous three outings but are a hard team to defeat, having suffered just one loss in their last five games in all competitions.

Match preview

Nottingham Forest manager Chris Hughton pictured in December 2020 © Reuters

A narrow victory over Cardiff City on Saturday ensured Forest progressed to the FA Cup fourth round and made it back-to-back 1-0 victories for the City Ground outfit.

Hughton's men may have struggled for goals this season, but the former Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion manager has managed to shore up his side's defence in recent weeks.

After a run of three consecutive defeats at the start of December, which saw them concede seven goals, they have only let in two in their following six encounters.

Summer signing Lyle Taylor will be hoping his winner over the Bluebirds last time out will be the start of a goalscoring streak that fires his new team up the Championship table.

Millwall manager Gary Rowett pictured in December 2020 © Reuters

Millwall have drawn the most games in the second tier so far this season, having taken home a share of the spoils on 11 occasions in 2020-21, which is half of their matches to date.

Their stubborn, if unattractive nature, currently sees them sitting in 16th position in the table, seven points clear of the relegation zone and four points better off than their upcoming opponents.

The Lions finished an impressive eighth in the previous campaign, narrowly missing out on a place in the playoffs, but this season has been a struggle at times.

Millwall's games are often tight affairs containing few goals, and that is exactly how it panned out between the two teams just a month ago.

They played out a closely fought 1-1 drw at The Den in the build-up to Christmas, and it could be a similar occasion at the weekend.

Nottingham Forest Championship form: LWDDDW
Nottingham Forest form (all competitions): WDDDWW

Millwall Championship form: DLWDLD
Millwall form (all competitions): LLDLWD

Team News

Millwall's Tom Bradshaw celebrates scoring against Bristol City in the Championship on December 15, 2020 © Reuters

Midfielder Luke Freeman is expected to return to the Forest bench after a lengthy lay-off meaning Hughton has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

The likes of Cyrus Christie, Lewis Grabban and Yuri Ribeiro were rested for the recent FA Cup encounter and should be restored to the starting XI on Saturday.

Star striker Kenneth Zohore made his first league start in several weeks following an injury last time out, but his replacement Matt Smith grabbed a late equaliser and could be pushing for a start at the weekend.

Left-back Murray Wallace has served his suspension and is available for selection once again and may replace Scott Malone on the left-hand side.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Ribeiro, Worrall, Figueiredo, Christie; Sow, Yates; Ameobi, Cafu, Knockaert; Grabban

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Cooper, Pearce, Hutchinson; Wallace, Woods, Leonard, McNamara; Parrot, Smith, Wallace

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We say: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Millwall

It is likely to be a hard-fought fixture with few chances at either end, given the two team's strengths lie in defence. A narrow victory for Forest could be the outcome on Saturday as the home side carry greater momentum into the game.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Millwall win with a probability of 40.5%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 31.03% and a draw had a probability of 28.5%.

The most likely scoreline for a Millwall win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.12%) and 0-2 (7.83%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 1-0 (10.77%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.22%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood.