Nottingham Forest v Malmo: Dyche revolution to gather pace

• Forest boosted by Anfield win

• Malmo a mess on and off the field

• Comfortable home win on the cards

Nottingham Forest v Malmo
Thursday 27 November, 20:00
Live on TNT Sports 1

Forest on a high after conquering Anfield

It seems like incredibly muddled thinking to ditch Nuno, switch to a much more attacking coach in Ange Postecoglou for a few games, and then return to a Nuno-esque pragmatist in Sean Dyche. However, there's no doubt that former Nottingham Forest youth player Dyche is showing a passion for the East Midlands club and has sparked a much-needed revival.

The 3-0 win at Anfield recently was further evidence that Forest are heading in the right direction. They survived a tricky half-hour, but once Murillo blasted them in front, they went on to deservedly smash the champions on their own patch.

Forest have only lost one of six under Dyche, and at home they have beaten Porto and Leeds, with a draw against Manchester United in between. With good reason, Dyche can be seen as quite a staid, defensively minded coach, but Forest have scored ten goals in six games under him. He has never had the quality of attacking players that are currently at his disposal.

With a huge squad, Dyche is expected to make a number of changes here, with John Victor, Morato and Callum Hudson-Odoi all potential returnees.

Malmo in a mess ahead of City Ground trip

With minnows Mjallby securing a shock Allsvenskan title recently, it's been a little under the radar that Malmo have had such a poor campaign. The 24-time champions finished a lowly sixth in the Swedish top flight, an enormous 26 points adrift of top spot.

Things haven't been much better in European competition. Malmo have claimed a solitary point from their four Europa League matches, losing to Ludogorets, Viktoria Plzen and Panathinaikos. This trip to face Premier League Forest should in theory be their toughest yet.

Coach Henrik Rydstrom departed in September, and temporary replacement Anes Mravac has been linked with a move to be an assistant coach at Middlesbrough. To make matters worse, Malmo have players out injured, with Arnor Sigurdsson and Taha Ali both likely to miss this one.

Forest to win in style

One of Forest's greatest triumphs was against Malmo, as they beat them in the 1979 European Cup final, and I expect them to beat the Swedes again here.

I'll back Forest -1.5 & -2.0 at 1.981/1 here on the Asian Handicap, which means a two-goal win for the hosts gives us a half-win, and a bigger victory secures a full pay-out at a shade under evens. Malmo are a mess, demoralised, injury-hit and led by a coach who isn't going to stick around.

Forest only have five points, so they really need the win, so expect a committed and ruthless display.

Now read our other European previews here!