Pundits Mark Lawrenson, Paul Merson and Chris Sutton all agree on what Nottingham Forest's fate will be against Aston Villa on Monday evening.
Forest are looking for just their second win of the season and want to bounce back following a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City at the start of this week. The players will be buoyed by the news that head coach Steve Cooper has signed a new three-year contract with the club.
Lawrenson has backed Villa to beat Forest 1-0, while both Sutton and Merson think Monday's visitors to the City Ground will come away as 2-1 victors. “I think Steve Cooper’s had a vote of confidence which is the last thing he needs,” Lawrenson said. "Villa, you could argue, were slightly the better team against Leeds but that isn’t really saying a lot. I think Villa will just have enough."
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Agreeing with what Lawrenson had to say, Merson said : "This is a must-win game for Forest - they are all over the place at the moment. "If they lose this game and the club decide to do something silly by getting rid of Steve Cooper - who in my opinion is a fantastic manager - he won't be out of work for more than a day because clubs like Bournemouth will be waiting to snap him up.
"Aston Villa vs Leeds United was such a boring game, especially after watching Manchester City. It's like watching any other movie after watching one of the Godfather films and that just goes to show how much the Cityzens have raised the standards in the Premier League in recent years.
"Aston Villa fans want to see goals and an entertaining brand of football, but it hasn't happened consistently under Steven Gerrard so far. He's made them tighter at the back, but Villa haven't lived up to expectations under the former Liverpool captain.
"Both teams will be disappointed if they don't win this one, but I'm just going to fancy Aston Villa at the moment."
Former Celtic midfielder Chris Sutton echoes the pair's sentiments, saying in his predictions this week: "Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has kept his job for now, but the noises coming out of the City Ground cannot be making him feel too optimistic about his future.
"Cooper said after his side's defeat at Leicester that "where we've fallen short is that we're not a team" which is a worry. I always thought it was going to be tremendously difficult to go out and build a new team that could compete in the Premier League.
"It's hard to gauge where Aston Villa are at, after seeing them unable to break down a Leeds side that played with 10 men for almost the entire second half.
"There are a few disgruntled Villa fans who think their side haven't made the progress they would have liked under Gerrard. Philippe Coutinho has been a let-down this season, and overall they are quite workmanlike, even when they get a positive result.
"I fancy Villa here, though. I think Forest's confidence is at a low ebb and they are far too open at the back to hold out for 90 minutes - I'm going with Coutinho to come good, and get the winner. He probably won't start now."
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