Mid-table Millwall host surprise relegation strugglers Nottingham Forest at the Den on Saturday with both sides hoping that their poor form is behind them.

Having been on long winless runs, Millwall and Forest both secured morale-boosting victories on Tuesday and are now tasked with the challenge of building momentum from their positive results.

Match preview

Yuri Ribeiro celebrates scoring for Nottingham Forest against Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on December 15, 2020 © Reuters

Millwall started the season well, winning four of their first eight Championship games, but went the next 10 league outings without a victory.

That dramatic dip in form has seen them slip eight points off the playoff places and into 15th, but their strong start was enough to prevent them from truly being dragged into the relegation conversation.

The 2-0 away win over 10-man Bristol City last time out has finally ended Millwall's winless run and halted their free-fall down the table.

Manager Gary Rowett will be keen to follow up that victory with another, particularly in front of their own fans against a struggling outfit.

Forest have endured a dire campaign so far and only find themselves outside of the relegation zone on goal difference, with bitter rivals Derby County just below them in the table.

The club looked certain to take part in the playoffs but a dramatic collapse at the end of the season saw them lose their spot to Swansea City on the final day and that poor form has dragged on into the new campaign.

Forest lost their first four games and, despite a slight upturn between mid-October and early November, the club then lost six of their next seven, drawing the other.

However, Chris Hughton's men also ended their winless run on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-league Sheffield Wednesday and will be keen to build momentum off that result.

Millwall Championship form: DLLDLW

Nottingham Forest Championship form: LDLLLW

Team News

Millwall's Tom Bradshaw celebrates scoring against Bristol City in the Championship on December 15, 2020 © Reuters

Millwall manager Rowett has a trio of injured players that will be unavailable ahead of Saturday's fixture.

Billy Mitchell, Kenneth Zohore and Connor Mahoney are all struggling for fitness and are unlikely to return until after Christmas.

Forest head coach Hughton, meanwhile, has a quartet of absentees of his own to contend with.

Jack Colback and Luke Freeman are both injured and won't make the trip to London, but won't be out for an extended period of time.

However, Tobias Figueiredo and Anthony Knockaert are also unavailable due to suspension.

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, M. Wallace; Williams, Leonard; J. Wallace, Bradshaw, Bennett; Bodvarsson

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Christie, Soh, Worrall, Ribeiro; Sow, Yates; Ameobi, Cafu, Mighten; Taylor

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We say: Millwall 1-1 Nottingham Forest

There isn't too much to split these two, who face off in remarkably similar veins of form. With neither side keen to return to losing ways after their victories last time out, the pair may settle for a point at the Den.

Top betting tip

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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Millwall win with a probability of 46.46%. A draw had a probability of 28.1% and a win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 25.44%.

The most likely scoreline for a Millwall win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.31%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.47%) and 2-1 (8.53%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.89%), while for a Nottingham Forest win it was 0-1 (9.74%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood.