Nottingham Forest will be quick to forget their domestic woes when they travel to Merkur Arena to face Sturm Graz in the Europa League on Thursday.
27th-placed Sturm Graz and their visitors are both searching for their second wins when they face each other in matchday 4 of the competition’s group phase.
Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest preview
Nottingham Forest sealed European football last season.
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Sturm Graz are having a tough phase both in the league and at the European stage at the moment. The Blackies suffered a 2-1 defeat to Rapid Vienna over the weekend to take them to 4th place on the table.
With just three points so far in the Europa League, the Austrian team will be hoping to step up and get maximum points when the English side comes visiting.
Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, is having a difficult season. They are currently 19th on the EPL table with only one win from 10 games.
The Tricky Trees were about to hold Manchester United to a 2-2 draw on the weekend. This can serve as an extra boost for Sean Dyche’s men as the new coach will hope to turn the fortunes of the team around.
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Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest head-to-head
The last time these two teams met was in 1984, when Nottingham Forest had a slight edge over their Austrian opposition.
The English team had a 2-1 aggregate win over Sturm Graz in the UEFA Cup quarter-final home and away fixtures before they were eliminated from the competition by Anderlecht in the semi-finals.
Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest team news
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Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina out for three months. (Credit: Imago)
Jurgen Saumel will be happy ending into this fixture as his squad is near full strength and ready to welcome their visitors. The coach will have Otar Kiteishvili lead the attack, having scored eight goals across all competitions.
However, the home side will be without Chukwuani, who is under suspension after a red card he picked, and Beganovic, who is out injured.
Meanwhile, Forest has quite a number of players who are injured and will not be part of the team that will travel to Austria.
Both Nigerian players of the team, Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi, are still injured. Bakwa, Zinchenko, and Cunha are other players who will not make the trip.
Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest probable lineups
Sturm Graz: Christensen; Malic, Aiwu, Lavalee, Karic; Kiteishvili, Gorenc-Stankovic, Kayombo; Horvat; Malone, Jatta
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Savona, Murillo, Williams, Milenkovic, Ndoye; Anderson, Sangare, Kalimuendo; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White
Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest prediction and betting tips
Neither team is in the right run of form at the moment. However, Nottingham Forest are the clear favourites of this fixture, and we believe they will have a slight edge.
When betting on Livescorebet, we recommend you focus more on goal markets than on an outright straight win.
Prediction: Sturm Graz 1-2 Nottingham Forest
