Nottingham Forest's return to the Premier League feels a little more real with the release of next season's fixtures today.
The Reds will be away at St James' Park against Newcastle United on the opening weekend of the 2022/23 season, set for August 6, before they will welcome West Ham United to the City Ground in what looks, on paper, a difficult opening to the season.
A trip to Everton follows that before hosting Tottenham Hotspur and travelling to the North West again on the final day of August to face champions Manchester City in the first midweek fixture of the season. After that it does get a little easier as we look at the fixtures which could decide the season.
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Runs against Leeds, Fulham and Bournemouth - twice
After their tough start, Forest host Bournemouth, go to Leeds and then are at home to Fulham. If we're being honest, these are the kind of games they probably need to win the majority of to stay up. Fulham have statistically the toughest start to the season as they face Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea before they come to the City Ground.
Bournemouth will be favourites to go down, like Forest, so need to be beaten. Perhaps this time VAR will help Forest against the Cherries after they were harshly treated on the South Coast last season. Then again, we shouldn't moan about officials just yet, should we? Hopefully, Jon Moss enjoys his first weekend watching Premier League games as a fan.
Leeds stayed up on the final day last season, and although manager Jesse Marsch saw an improvement in results, they still looked fallible and could lose key men Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha this summer. Those games are in September, before the first international break, but Forest play the same trio in a row again in late January into February. With 18 points on the line in those matches, it is hard to believe they will not be important.
Crystal Palace and Brentford at home
Forest's last two games before the break for the World Cup are at home to mid-ranking London clubs. They will not be easy, of course. Palace had strong defensive stats last season, and attacking talents like Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze will only improve under Patrick Vieira.
Brentford had a fine first season in the Premier League, but they were on a slippery slope before the arrival of Christian Eriksen and will be a far less dangerous team without him in all probability if he moves on.
Given the league breaks off after the Palace game on November 12 until the trip to Manchester United on Boxing Day, it is important Forest take some momentum into a long break which could prove beneficial for Steve Cooper and his staff, assuming none of the Forest players selected go too deep into the World Cup tournament in Qatar.
Brighton home, Brentford away, Southampton home
Forest's final three games - against Chelsea, Arsenal and then Palace away - look tricky. They need to be safe by then in an ideal world. One way to help guarantee they stay up is a good run leading up those fixtures.
The Reds are scheduled to host Brighton on April 25 before going to Brentford four days later. They then have Southampton at home on May 6. Graham Potter has done a fine job, and assuming he and Steve Cooper are still in post at that point, it should be a fascinating tactical battle against Brighton.
Southampton are perhaps the most curious team in the league. Capable of great things, they can also go on horrible runs, and finished last season poorly after confirming their place for another season. There could be opportunities there.
