Chelsea will be looking to start 2023 on the front foot when they face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on New Year's Day.
Goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount secured a convincing 2-0 win for Chelsea against Bournemouth in their last Premier League outing, but the result was slightly dampened as Reece James picked up another knee injury on his return to action.
The Blues have since dropped to ninth in the table after the New Year's Eve results but can climb back up two places with victory at the City Ground as they look to challenge for the top four once again.
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Chelsea have a good record against Steve Cooper's side in their limited meetings over the last few years, winning all three meetings in domestic cup competitions since 2017.
So, who will come out on top in Sunday's clash between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest? We simulated the game to get a score prediction and this is what happened.
Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea simulated to get a score prediction
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that the Reds could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Henderson; Aurier, McKenna, Boly, Toffolo; Yates, Freuler, Mangala; Johnson, Awoniyi, Dennis.
We predict that the Blues could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Koulibaly, Silva, Cucurella; Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount; Sterling, Havertz, Pulisic.
The Blues controlled the opening stages of the game, with the 4-3-3 formation working well as Chelsea's midfield trio created chances and shut out the Forest attack. Mount was performing well on the left of the three, and he played a big role in Chelsea taking the lead after 27 minutes.
Marc Cucurella found Mount just inside the Forest half, and as the midfielder looked likely to play a return pass to the defender down the left, he opted to switch play with a fantastic long ball to Havertz inside the box. The German's first touch saw the ball roll into his path, and his second was his shot, firing a powerful effort across goal to send the Blues ahead.
Forest started to look dangerous just before the break, especially on the wings, and it was Brennan Johnson who levelled the score against the run of play with a long-range effort from the left. The goal caught Chelsea by surprise, but they regained the lead eight minutes after the restart through Raheem Sterling.
Chelsea worked the ball around the box as they looked for an avenue through, and Jorginho's was the key, finding Sterling on the shoulder of the last defender with a great through ball. The forward held off his marker before curling his effort into the top corner and sending the Blues back into the lead.
Chances started to dry up, prompting Potter into introducing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the bench. The striker took a moment to find his feet, but a quickfire double in the 84th and 87th minute from the striker saw Chelsea confirm the three points.
The first of the two was the simplest, with the striker sliding in at the far post to tap Christian Pulisic's dragged shot into the net. The first of his two goals made Forest more desperate in their attacks, and an ambitious long ball forward from Scott McKenna was cut out by substitute Denis Zakaria to kickstart a Chelsea counter-attack.
After intercepting the pass, Zakaria chipped a ball over the top of the Forest defence for Aubameyang to chase, and the striker hit a powerful first-time effort at goal, finding the top corner to make it 4-1.
FIFA 23 predicted final score: Nottingham Forest 1-4 Chelsea
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 23 predicts that Chelsea could be heading back to the capital with three points on Sunday afternoon, with the Blues winning 4-1 in the simulation. A late Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace secured the three points whilst Denis Zakaria also impressed off the bench, with Potter maybe needing to look to his substitutes for inspiration on New Year's Day.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
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