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Sports Mole previews Saturday's pre-season friendly between Fulham and Nottingham Forest, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Both still unbeaten in pre-season friendlies, Premier League rivals Fulham and Nottingham Forest collide in their next warm-up match on Saturday in the Portuguese city of Faro.

Compatriots Marco Silva and Nuno Espirito Santo meet at the Estadio de Sao Luis, where the Cottagers seek a third win from three and the Garibaldi aim to find their shooting boots.

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Match preview

Quietly going about their business both on and off the pitch this summer, Fulham - the only Premier League side who have still not confirmed a single signing this summer - are two for two in tune-up matches so far, taking down Aberdeen and West Bromwich Albion behind closed doors.

Silva's merciless men put four past the Scottish Premiership side at Motspur Park Training Ground, where Harry Wilson bagged a brace, before Emile Smith Rowe scored the only goal in a 1-0 triumph over West Brom on Tuesday.

Now halfway through their preparatory period, Fulham only have one more friendly pencilled in after their battle with Forest; the Cottagers host Bundesliga heavyweights Eintracht Frankfurt at Craven Cottage on August 9.

The visit of Die Adler precedes a taxing start to the Premier League season for Fulham, who head to Brighton & Hove Albion first up before also locking horns with Chelsea and Manchester United before the end of August.

The first new face therefore cannot come through the door soon enough, but the London club are believed to be on the brink of capturing experienced French goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte, while talks are ongoing to re-sign Arsenal's Reiss Nelson on another loan deal.

While Fulham's transfer activity this summer has been on the quiet side, Nottingham Forest's on-field activity has not set the world alight either, as Santo's men have two goalless draws on their summer notebook so far.

The Tricky Trees firstly shared the spoils with League Two side Chesterfield at the SMH Group Stadium, before returning to the same venue to 'host' Ligue 1 giants Monaco last weekend, where another 0-0 was played out.

Forest often found themselves under the cosh against Les Monegasques, but goalkeeping duo Matz Sels and Carlos Miguel both stood tall to keep the Principality side at bay and preserve the Garibaldi's unbeaten friendly record.

Santo's crop also have ample time left to rediscover their scoring touch; Forest will face Estoril towards the end of their Portugal training camp, before tackling Birmingham City, Fiorentina and Saudi Pro League side Al-Quadisiya when back in the UK.

Meetings with Fulham may fill the Forest faithful with dread, though, as the Cottagers have won five of their six head-to-heads since the Tricky Trees' promotion to the Premier League in 2022, doing the double over Santo's men last season.

Fulham friendlies form:

Nottingham Forest friendlies form:

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Team News

With no fitness concerns whatsoever to work around, Fulham boss Silva ought to have a full squad at his disposal for the meeting with Forest, but Lecomte will surely not be signed in time to make his debut.

Instead, Bernd Leno and Steven Benda should share the minutes in goal, while Muniz and Raul Jimenez jostle for position at the tip of the attack.

Silva used 22 players in the midweek victory over West Brom, so expect the likes of 18-year-old Josh King - one of the scorers in the win over Aberdeen - to earn more valuable first-team minutes.

As for Forest, the Morgan Gibbs-White Tottenham Hotspur saga is showing no sign of ending anytime soon, but the playmaker is now understood to have travelled to Portugal to link up with his Tricky Trees teammates after a personal matter.

All eyes will be on whether Gibbs-White's name features on the team sheet this weekend, but given he played the first half of the stalemate with Monaco, an appearance can be considered likely.

However, Nicolas Dominguez is still on the way back from a severe knee injury, while Neco Williams is yet to feature since sustaining an ankle problem on international duty with Wales.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Abbott; Yates, Sangare; Jota, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

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We say: Fulham 1-1 Nottingham Forest

 

In competitive action, there has not been a stalemate between Fulham and Forest since the 2016-17 Championship campaign, where Nicklas Bendtner and Tom Cairney found the back of the net.

However, with both managers naming close to full-strength sides before no doubt ringing the changes, we simply cannot see a clear winner in this Faro fight.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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