HIDDEN CRISIS: THE FULL EXTENT OF CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI’S ACHILLES INJURY REVEALED BEFORE KICKOFF
Nottingham Forest face West Ham with Hudson-Odoi sidelined and John Victor injured. Will Matz Sels save Sean Dyche’s squad? Analysis.
Nottingham Forest still aren't sure if Callum Hudson-Odoi will be fit in time for their big match against West Ham United on Tuesday night.
This one matters a lot. Only four points separate the two teams, and with Forest sitting 17th, a win in London could give them some much-needed breathing room in the fight to stay up.
But Forest is in a bad spot. They've lost four in a row, and Hudson-Odoi missed Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa because of a sore Achilles. No one knows yet if he’ll be ready for West Ham.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Sean Dyche said. “He couldn’t even make the bench on Saturday. His Achilles is still sore.”
Forest also has to manage without Chris Wood (knee) and Ryan Yates (hamstring). Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly are both away at the Africa Cup of Nations. The one bit of good news? Ola Aina finally came back from a long injury layoff and played against Villa.
But then, just when it looked like things couldn't get worse, their keeper, John Victor, went down with a calf problem—right after a mistake gifted Villa their third goal. He signalled he was hurt and left the pitch in tears.
Dyche had stuck with John in goal, even though Matz Sels was back from injury and ready to go. Sels, last year’s Golden Glove winner, had been waiting on the bench. Now, it looks like he’ll get his chance again.
Still, Dyche doesn’t want to label anyone as his clear No. 1 or No. 2. Before Saturday, he thought John deserved to keep his spot. “It’s been a really close contest between those two,” Dyche said. “I talked to both of them about it. John had done enough in my eyes. Early on against Villa, he made a brilliant save. It’s just really unlucky for him, and for us, that the mistake happened.”
If Forest wants to pull clear of the drop zone, Dyche knows everyone has to step up. The performances haven’t been good enough lately, and they can’t keep making the same mistakes, especially up front.
“It’s not about one player—it’s about the team. I’ve never built teams around a single player. It takes the whole squad,” Dyche said. “And it’s not just about this game against West Ham. There are more league matches, Europa League games, and the FA Cup. The squad’s mentality is what matters.
“I haven’t doubted the group’s mentality since I arrived. But we have to stop making these errors, and we need to be more dangerous in the other team’s box.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
_1777914166.webp)
Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
Must Read
