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By Peter Akinbo.
Desperate to avoid the drop, Nigerian midfielder Alex Iwobi and his Everton side faces off against Emmanuel Dennis and the Tricky Trees of Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Holding a game in hand on Everton, Dennis’s side sit four points clear of the bottom three, while the Toffees find themselves one point inside the drop zone.
Although Iwobi has been more instrumental for the Toffees this season than Dennis has been at Forest, the results on the pitch show that Nottingham are faring far better after their early season troubles.
Iwobi has scored one goal in 25 appearances in the Premier League this season but it is on the creative side that he has produced the goods with his six assists placing him fourth on the assists charts in the English top-flight.
Dennis has had a more muted role for Forest since his transfer from Watford last summer scoring one goal and providing one assist in 11 appearances in the league.
Although Forest have taken a solitary point from their last three outings – losing 2-0 at Fulham before the draw with Man City and the rout at West Ham – Cooper’s men have avoided defeat in each of their previous eight home league games.
In fact, the Tricky Trees have transformed the City Ground into a fortress, picking up four wins and four draws since their last loss at home, with positive results against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City coming on Trentside.
Everton have failed to claim a single point on their travels in 2023, with 2-0 losses against West Ham and Liverpool preceding Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of title-chasing Arsenal.
The Merseyside outfit won two of their first three games under Sean Dyche, securing 1-0 victories over Arsenal and Leeds United, but they still find themselves in 18th place one point away from safety following back-to-back defeats.
Injured Taiwo Awoniyi has been tipped to make a return for Forest soon as he speeds up recovery from his groin injury.