By Conor Hogan
West Ham face Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night in a must-win game at London Stadium.
After Saturday’s dreadful 3-0 defeat at Wolves, the pressure is really on Nuno Espírito Santo and his West Ham side to deliver three points against their closest relegation rival.
A win for the Hammers would close the gap between them and 17th-place Forest to just a point. However, a loss at London Stadium could spell disaster for West Ham, who already face an uphill battle to secure Premier League safety this season.
Forest provided the Hammers with their only away win of the season when the Hammers won 3-0 at the City Ground in August. Ironically, that was Nuno’s final game as Forest manager.
There have been rumours that this game will be a decisive one in the 51-year-old’s tenure in East London. However, as reported by ExWHUEmployee, West Ham have dismissed reports that Nuno is on the verge of being sacked.
Ahead of the game all eyes will be on new signings Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos. Pablo signed on Friday night, and although he was in the squad against Wolves on Saturday, he did not feature.
It will be interesting to see if either striker is involved tomorrow, especially given the exit rumours that have recently circulated around Callum Wilson, the club’s only other senior striker.
Castellanos reportedly trained with the squad today following his move from Lazio. Whether he features on the pitch on Tuesday remains to be seen.
The Hammers are still without El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who remain away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Diouf’s Senegal progressed to the quarter-finals following their win over Sudan on Saturday. Wan-Bissaka’s DR Congo face Algeria on Tuesday.
Forest are without centre-back Willy Bolly and midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré, who are also away at AFCON. Nigerian full-back Ola Aina recently returned from injury against Aston Villa and is expected to feature against the Irons.
It is currently unknown whether Lucas Paquetá will be in Nuno’s squad tomorrow. The Brazilian missed out at the weekend through injury, but has a good record against Forest, scoring against them in wins during the 2023/24 and 2025/26 seasons.
Following the Hammers’ woeful result at Molineux on Saturday, a huge performance is needed against Forest. If the Hammers can claim their first win since November, they may still have some chance of Premier League survival.
If not, however, then Hammers fans may start preparing themselves for away days at the likes of Wrexham and Millwall next season. This is simply a must-win game for Nuno’s side.
Kick-off is at 8pm at London Stadium on Tuesday night.
