PREVIEW: Everton and Nottingham Forest look to continue positive spells at the Hill Dickinson Stadium | OneFootball

Everton will be looking to put themselves in the European spots with a win at home against Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest who themselves have a good chance to carve out some daylight between themselves and the relegation zone.

The Toffees recovered well from their 4-1 humbling at home to Newcastle United last weekend by beating Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday. They currently sit in 10th place on 21 points but they’re just three points behind Chelsea in fourth place, such is the compact nature of the top half of the Premier League table.

Jack Grealish was the man responsible for the goal which won Everton the game on the south coast, and he has been a revelation since arriving on Merseyside: his tally of five goal contributions in the league is only bettered at Everton by Iliman Ndiaye.

As for their opponents, Nottingham Forest are finding their rhythm after a tough start to the season. Igor Jesus’ goal at Molineux was enough to secure victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the week, and those three points put Dyche’s men three above the drop zone ahead of his visit to his old club.

The Tricky Trees registered an impressive 3-0 away win at Anfield just weeks ago too, which furthered Dyche’s credentials since his arrival at the City Ground. In what has been a chaotic season since the departure of Nuno Espírito Santo in August, Forest have gone from battling for the top four spots last season to nervously looking over their shoulders as we head into a hectic Christmas schedule. Dyche’s men will need to create more breathing space between them and the bottom four especially with Leeds recording an impressive win at home against Chelsea.

Centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite is still out for the Toffees as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury that will keep him out until the new year. Full back Nathan Patterson could be back in contention as he’s recovering well from a muscle injury. Elsewhere, summer signing Merlin Röhl is still recovering from from an unspecified injury and Saturday’s game may be too soon for the German’s return.

As for Forest, full-back Ola Aina isn’t expected to return to the matchday squad until the new year. The Nigerian full-back has been recovering from a hamstring injury since early September.

Aina is joined in the treatment room by midfielder Douglas Luiz who may not have enough time to recover from injury for the Everton game. Goalkeeper Angus Gunn is without a date for his return as the Scotsman recovers from a knee injury of his own.

The match will kick off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium at 15:00 GMT, meaning it won’t be broadcast on UK TV.

Predicted line-ups

EVE: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall; Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Grealish; Barry

NFO: Sels; Savona, Milenković, Morato, Williams; Sangaré, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Jesus