It’s a relatively rare Saturday 3pm start for Chelsea versus Nottingham Forest, our first league fixture of the season not to be carried live on UK television.

This final part of a trio of home games in league and cup will provide another test of the Blues’ can-opening capabilities against a counter-attacking side likely to sit deep for long periods.

The visitors have not won on the road since early January, though, and have lost both away matches in this campaign to date. There are few happy memories for recent generations of Forest fans traveling to the Fulham Road, either: their team have won only once in 14 visits on all fronts (losing eight times), and are winless in nine at Stamford Bridge since January 1995.

With success in midweek at home to Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup, Mauricio Pochettino’s improving Londoners have registered consecutive wins for the first time since mid-March. We will now be aiming for two in a row in the league at the Bridge, last achieved back in October.

Friday’s 3-0 against Luton was Chelsea’s first win by such a margin since the defeat of Forest’s rivals up the A42, Wolves, again last October. As a result, the Blues are now unbeaten when leading at the break in the past 100 Premier League outings at the Bridge, starting in October 2011 (and comprising 81 wins and 19 draws).

Team news

A few weeks into the season there is a better-defined shape to Poch’s plans. While recent recruit Djordje Petrovic has had to wait for his work permit, Robert Sanchez has impressed with reassuring high gathers from corners, often initiating rapid counter-attacks.

Mauricio Pochettino said he expects new England squad member Levi Colwill to recover from a midweek knock, meaning the back four should remain the same.

In his preferred central midfield of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, the Argentinean is licensed to roam forward, hopefully with the same decisive effect as against Wimbledon.

Latest signing Cole Palmer brings more class to our already exciting wide roster. The England Under-21 international is a technically excellent left-footer who likes to take defenders on, and he’s already netted twice this season in the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup. He can also play the no.10 role.

A deadline day arrival to contest places with Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, and two of Wednesday’s standouts, Ian Maatsen and Noni Madueke, Palmer’s arrival will also enable Poch to rejig defensively. Ben Chilwell could revert to left-back, creating a more traditional back four, and the on-fire Sterling – who scored all three of Chelsea's goals against Forest last season – could move to an inverted role on the left.

Nico Jackson is increasingly impressive leading the line with his ball retention and surges into threatening areas. He's made 49 off-the-ball runs into the box in the league this season (at least 19 more than any other player) and will be eager for more goals after last Friday’s account-opener.

Benoit Badishile, Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James are scheduled to return after the international break, while Romeo Lavia is continuing his conditioning work.

Scouting the opposition – Forest

There are three main threats to address when facing Nottingham Forest and the first, key one is Taiwo Awoniyi. The 26-year-old striker has notched in each of his last seven Premier League appearances, including a brace at Stamford Bridge last season. A goal this weekend would match his club’s all-time record of eight. He can look isolated for long periods but is fast, strong and deadly when involved.

The Blues must also work out how to neutralise chief creator Morgan Gibbs-White, whose incisive passing and crossing has earned nine assists since Forest’s promotion in 2022, six more than any team-mate.

Then there’s the visitors’ quick starts to games. They have scored three times in the opening 10 minutes of league matches, the most of any side, and caught Man Utd cold last weekend (before becoming the first Premier League side ever to lose from a 2-0 lead after four mins). Their two other goals this season came in the final 10 minutes.

Steve Cooper uses a 5-4-1 formation, with former Spur Serge Aurier and Cobham graduate Ola Aina as wing-backs. Ahead of goalie Matt Turner set-up a deep, narrow defence drilled by skipper Joe Worrall (sent off for a last-man foul last weekend, but available this weekend), that’s designed to soak up pressure and counter through the livewire Awoniyi or imposing Chris Wood.

The approach invites pressure, though, and can be undermined by lapses in both boxes: being second to the ball in their own box at Old Trafford eventually proved fatal. It was form at the City Ground that kept the Tricky Trees up last season – their away performance ranked 20th in the top flight. It included a single win and several heavy defeats to nil, their third goal on the road only arriving in January.

Wednesday’s match, a 1-0 home loss to Burnley, handed playing time to squad players (including Chelsea prodigy Andrey Santos, who is ineligible against his parent club) and those coming back from injury. Central midfielder Orel Mangala could return from a knock and Worrall is available after suspension, though fellow centre-half Scott McKenna could be ruled out.

Chelsea vs Forest – the history

This is the seventh Premier League campaign in which Chelsea have met Nottingham Forest. The points were shared home and away last season, men of the moment Raheem Sterling and Taiwo Awoniyi each scoring a brace in the corresponding fixture in May. More broadly across all competitions at Stamford Bridge, though, the Blues’ recent record against Forest is six wins in seven, with at least two goals scored on each occasion.

One of the most memorable encounters along the Fulham Road happened almost exactly 36 years ago, on 5 September 1987. John Hollins’ high-flying side went 2-0 then 3-1 down to the legendary Brian Clough’s previously unbeaten visitors.

Then devastating attacking by the hosts produced three goals in 10 minutes either side of the break through Gordon Durie (his second), and full-backs Clive Wilson and Steve Clarke.

The dramatic 4-3 comeback victory was not witnessed by half-time sub Kerry Dixon, who was still calming down in the dressing room after a bust-up with his manager.

Most dangerous scoreline in football

It was deja-vu last weekend for Forest and Steve Cooper, who watched his side inflict the earliest ever 2-0 deficit on Man United in the Premier League (four minutes), only to lose over the full 90.

The east Midlands club’s failure to retain a lead is an unwanted hangover from last season. In consecutive weeks last September, the Reds frittered away two-goal leads at home to Bournemouth and fellow promoted team, Fulham, losing 3-2 each time.

Overall, Forest went ahead 20 times in 2022/23 but were pegged back on 11 occasions. Only two teams suffered more setbacks in 2022/23: Leeds (14 equalisers to 21 leads), and Chelsea (11 to 23). Inevitably, then, when the Blues hosted Forest in this fixture last season, both held the lead at one stage, but the game finished 2-2.

Duty calls

After this weekend, club football pauses for the first of four breaks reserved for international football matches by FIFA.

Among those fixtures are the closing group stage games of the Africa Cup of Nations, originally scheduled for last summer, but pushed back to its old slot of January/February in 2024 over extreme weather concerns. The defending champions are Nico Jackson’s Senegal and the host nation is Ivory Coast.

International fixtures 2023/24

4–12 Sep 2023 FIFA international break

9–17 Oct 2023 FIFA international break

13–21 Nov 2023 FIFA international break

12 Jan–10 Feb 2024 AFC Asian Cup

13 Jan–11 Feb 2024 Africa Cup of Nations

18–26 Mar 2024 FIFA international break

Heritage display at Legends match

If you’re attending the Legends match next weekend, don’t miss a unique display in the Tea Bar put on by the Chelsea Heritage Partnership. The first in a series of unashamedly nostalgic showcases titled ‘Those Were The Days’ will naturally focus on Gianluca Vialli and the cohort of overseas stars who transformed Chelsea in the 1990s.

Match videos, trophies won, info-packed presentations and memorabilia will form the display, and some of the legends themselves will also be in attendance. 

Mental health drop-in on matchdays

A new initiative from Chelsea Supporters’ Trust sees the launch this weekend of ‘Over The Line’, a mental health hub in the Tea Bar at Stamford Bridge, backed by Chelsea FC and the Chelsea Foundation.

Trained, qualified counsellors from Hammersmith and Fulham/Ealing and Hounslow Mind will offer confidential advice and support on mental ill-health issues such as depression, anxiety, grief, stress, sleeplessness, addiction and OCD. All are welcome, and the hub is open from 1pm before the Chelsea Forest match.