Sheffield Wednesday play host to Nottingham Forest in Saturday's Championship clash, as both sides will be looking to bounce back from crushing defeats in their most recent fixtures.

Wednesday sit nine points clear of the relegation zone in 15th, while Forest are aiming to cement their position in the playoff places.

Match preview

Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk pictured in January 2020 © Reuters

It has been a turbulent couple of weeks for Wednesday manager Garry Monk, who most recently witnessed his side be torn to shreds in a 5-0 loss to promotion hopefuls Brentford.

The Owls were also knocked out of the FA Cup in the fifth round following a 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City last week, as disappointing results since Christmas have seen Wednesday plummet from the playoff places into the lower half of the table.

Indeed, Monk's side have only picked up two league victories since New Year's Day, and have won just one of their last 10 matches in all competitions.

Furthermore, the Owls have only chalked up a mere 16 goals at Hillsborough in the Championship this term, the lowest in the league, although they have been boosted by the return to fitness of top scorer Steven Fletcher.

The 32-year-old has notched up 13 league goals for Wednesday this season, and a victory in front of their owns fans could see them rise to 12th depending on other results.

Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi on February 1, 2020 © Reuters

Forest capitulated in similar fashion to their opponents last week as they suffered a dismal 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Millwall.

However, matters off the pitch at the City Ground have dominated talk of the footballing world recently, as owner Evangelos Marinakis revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen an array of sporting events either postponed or held behind closed doors, but Forest have confirmed that all tests came back negative for players, coaches and officials alike.

As a result, the meeting at Hillsborough is expected to go ahead, with the Reds looking to bounce back from a frustrating set of results over the past few weeks.

Sabri Lamouchi's side have only won one of their last six games, but remain firmly in the mix for a spot in the playoffs, sitting fifth on 60 points.

A victory for Lamouchi's men could see them leapfrog Brentford into fourth should Fulham defeat their fellow promotion hopefuls, and Forest will certainly be looking to avenge the 4-0 thrashing inflicted on them by Monk's side back in December.

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: LLDWLL
Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions): LDWLLL

Nottingham Forest Championship form: LDDWDL

Team News

Nottingham Forest's Tiago Silva celebrates scoring their first goal on February 25, 2020 © Reuters

Wednesday have been boosted by the returns of Adam Reach, Moses Odubajo and Massimo Luongo, all of whom are in contention to play at the weekend.

Centre-back Julian Borner missed the defeat against Brentford last week, but the German should be fit for the visit of Forest.

Kieran Lee is the only other concern for Monk, with the midfielder being forced off in Wednesday's FA Cup defeat to City. The midfielder suffered a groin injury against Pep Guardiola's side, but should return to action before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Forest have no fresh injury concerns going into the weekend's game.

Tiago Silva has been suffering from appendicitis and will miss the trip to Hillsborough, while Nuno da Costa and Tendayi Darikwa remain out.

However, midfielder Samba Sow could potentially make a return to action after nearly a month on the sidelines. Should the weekend's game be deemed too soon for the 30-year-old, Ryan Yates may partner Ben Watson in midfield.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Palmer, Borner, Iorfa, Fox; Reach, Bannan, Windass, Harris; Forestieri, Fletcher

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribiero; Watson, Yates, Lolley, Carvalho, Ameobi; Grabban

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Nottingham Forest

While both sides have been struggling for form as of late, Forest will be determined to further their promotion charge and should have too much quality for the Owls, so we're going for a comfortable win for Lamouchi's men.

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 Sheffield Wednesday win with a probability of 44.14%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 29.12% and a draw had a probability of 26.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield Wednesday win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.85%) and 2-0 (8.18%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 0-1 (9.07%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.67%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.7% likelihood.