Over the past eight away games, Chelsea have been the seventh most in-form travellers, while over the same number of home fixtures Nottingham Forest have been the fifth worst.

However, away results leave room for improvement, with four draws and a defeat since February’s win at Selhurst Park. The Londoners have not kept a host goalless since Fulham in October and are one of five teams yet to score in the opening 10 minutes at a rival's ground.

In any case, the Europe-chasing Blues should be in confident mood following Sunday’s five-star Hammering – the defeat of West Ham United continuing an impressive run of one loss in 12 league outings.

A second successive clean sheet at Stamford Bridge helped make it five wins in six at home, which has seen us climb to seventh place in the Premier League table, our highest position since November 2022.

The continuation of Forest's two-season tenure in the top flight remains uncertain – they are currently one place from the drop zone, three points ahead of Luton Town and five above Burnley, with six to play for.

However, after three defeats and a draw they returned to winning ways last weekend by claiming all the spoils at relegated Sheffield United. That 3-1 win included a brace for one of their Cobham-schooled stars, Champions League winner Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The East Midlanders’ 1-0 success at the Bridge in September came after a sequence of seven Chelsea wins and two draws in all competitions since 1997, but we have yet to beat them since their most recent promotion in 2022.

Chelsea team news

Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Christopher Nkunku, Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling have already returned, while Reece James and Lesley Ugochukwu may now bolster the ranks for the final run-in after resuming team training this week.

Meanwhile, those already available have impressed recently. Mauricio Pochettino's principles of collective responsibility seem to have taken hold, and individuals have the confidence to express themselves.

There is a relentlessness and clinical finishing that we were lacking earlier in the campaign, but the challenge is to keep going. Only Arsenal (35) have found the net more times than Chelsea over the past dozen league matches (32).

Nicolas Jackson has now contributed four goals and two assists in his last five top-flight outings, while Cole Palmer is the league’s second-top scorer with 21.

A defining switch has been Marc Cucurella’s role, with the Spanish left-back sliding into central midfield when in possession to liberate more offensive players. Last time out, West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus eventually switched wings and stayed high to attempt to stifle Cucurella's rovings, and we should expect further measures against us going forward.

Cucu’s reboot is partly in response to Enzo Fernandez’s absence, but fellow central midfielder Moises Caicedo is thriving, stifling attacks and keeping opponents hemmed into their own penalty area.

Another recent improvement has been in scenting danger and clearing our own lines, coupled with Trevoh Chalobah’s growing authority and progressive passing. Now comes the task of staunching the flow of away goals, as two or more have been conceded in each of our previous four games on the road.

Goal contributions in all competitions 2023/24

Opposition scout: Nottingham Forest

This is Nottingham Forest's final home fixture of the season, the moment in which they secured top flight status last season by beating Arsenal.

Prior to blunting the Blades 3-1 last weekend, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had not found the net for two matches. Those three points and a superior goal difference make Forest’s relegation unlikely. They could even be safe before kick-off, should Luton and Burnley lose in their earlier games.

The East Midlanders are physically very aggressive and fast, emphasising creativity in wide areas with technical players such as Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White and former Blues Ola Aina and Hudson-Odoi.

Last time out at home, Nuno elected to play three at the back and take the game to an off-colour Manchester City side, harassing them to regain the ball high upfield. Ultimately, wayward finishing and a dead-ball vulnerability cost Forest, who lost 2-0.

They are the weakest in the top flight when defending set-plays, conceding 27 such goals in the top flight, as well as scoring the fewest (seven). Two-thirds of the total goals they have conceded at home (18) have come after the break.

The league’s third most prolific tacklers also rank second for most headed clearances, but have caught the fewest opponents offside. Only Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven has been forced into more last-man tackles than Brazilian defender Murillo.

The history

The banks of the river Trent have rarely produced a rewarding catch for the Blues, but there is an interesting story behind our biggest win there in 1925.

The previous January, Chelsea had played Arsenal in a friendly match to test the new offside rule, which was introduced for 1925/26. Having championed the change, the Pensioners developed sneaky tactics to exploit it, banging in 13 goals in the opening three games, including a fantastic 5-1 win at Forest.

This is only our seventh visit to the City Ground during the Premier League era, the previous six comprising an even three-way split of results.

The Blues’ most recent victory there in February 1999 helped condemn Forest to relegation and had a distinctly Nordic feel. Teenage Finnish striker Mikael Forssell continued his good start at Chelsea with the opener, before Danish midfielder Bjarne Goldbaek arrowed a double for 3-1.

Chelsea versus bottom six clubs

Palmer again

He swept Chelsea’s senior player awards and has been nominated for Premier League Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season, and rightly so.

Also in pursuit of the Golden Boot, Palmer's current total of 21 league goals (behind only Erling Haaland) is already three times that of last season’s highest goal scorer Kai Havertz. Incredibly, as things stand Palmer ranks 14th among our all-time leading marksmen in a top-flight season since 1907.

If we factor in goals-per-game, the Wythenshawe wonder is even more impressive, because just five players in our history have a better return than his 0.7 so far in a season. They are a dazzling array of Stamford Bridge greats - Jimmy Greaves (three times), Didier Drogba, Jack Cock, George Hilsdon (twice) and Tommy Lawton.

It is when we remember Palmer, who just turned 22, is at the dawn of his career that his achievement starts to look truly exceptional. The only younger player on the list below is former Chelsea junior Greaves, aged 17 in 1957/58, and our current No20 is just one goal shy of his debut-season total.

Most goals in a top-flight season

Race for Europe narrows

After humbling the Hammers, victory at the City Ground would put Chelsea on 57 points, securing eighth place at a minimum, ahead of facing Brighton away on Wednesday.

The broader situation will clarify once Manchester United have hosted Arsenal on Sunday, then Newcastle United in midweek, while Spurs entertain Burnley this weekend then Manchester City on Tuesday. Newcastle welcome Brighton before traveling to Old Trafford.

The number of qualification places available for UEFA competitions through the league depends on who wins the FA Cup final, as the runners-up at Wembley are no longer handed a ticket to Europe.

As City are confirmed in the top four, a win for the blue half of Manchester would provide a Europa League place to the team sixth in the Premier League, meaning the seventh-placed side would enter the Europa Conference League next season.

The concern for any side ending in seventh place is that, should the Red Devils finish eighth or lower and win the FA Cup final, they would claim the last Europa League berth and the English spot in the Europa Conference League would remain with the club placed sixth.