'It's not about me', says Postecoglou as new Forest boss searches for first win

Ange Postecoglou has insisted "it’s not about me, it’s about the club" as he looks to taste victory for the first time as Nottingham Forest hit the road to take on Burnley.

Since the controversial sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this month, Postecoglou has overseen two defeats as Forest boss.

Saturday's 3-0 loss against Arsenal was followed up by Forest conceding a last-gasp winner in a 3-2 EFL Cup upset against Swansea City on Wednesday.

Despite enduring a trying start to his tenure, history is on Postecoglou’s side, with the Australian having won both of his previous Premier League games against Burnley in 2023-24 as Tottenham boss, while he has won five out of six away games against newly promoted sides in the competition, with his teams scoring 19 goals in the process.

The Tricky Trees sit 15th on four points, failing to win since their opening game of the season against Brentford – a 3-1 success.

Postecoglou said: "It's not about me, it's about the club. It's about us progressing and creating an environment where we can have real success."

"Now we need to get our recovery in and get ready for a big game on Saturday."

Burnley have been cruelly undone by two consecutive stoppage-time penalties in their most recent Premier League outings against Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively.

The Clarets, who had gone unbeaten at Turf Moor since May 2024, conceded a 95th-minute Mohamed Salah winner last Sunday, with the spot-kick handing Liverpool the three points at the death.

Despite recent results, Scott Parker’s side have been good value thus far, having arguably deserved at least a point against both United and Liverpool, but momentary lapses in concentration have set them back.

"This is a squad with experience, but a lot of the squad are young players, who haven’t experienced the Premier League before," Parker said in his pre-match press conference.

"We have had some harsh lessons over the last couple of games, but we will learn from that and continue to improve."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Burnley – Jaidon Anthony

Anthony has found the net in both of his previous Premier League games against Forest (two goals), with those strikes coming for Bournemouth in the 2022-23 season, with the Tricky Trees the only team he has scored against more than once in the competition.

The 25-year-old, who joined Burnley on a permanent basis after their promotion-winning 2024-25 campaign, has already been on the scoresheet twice this season, having scored against Sunderland and United.

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

Wood has scored 14 Premier League goals against former clubs, a tally bettered only by Nicolas Anelka (18). The Forest striker netted twice against his old club Burnley on his most recent league visit to Turf Moor in May 2024.

The New Zealand international needs just nine more goals to reach the Premier League's coveted "100 Club", having scored 49 of his 91 top-flight goals for the Clarets.

MATCH PREDICTION: NOTTINGHAM FOREST WIN

Forest’s 2-1 victory at Turf Moor on the final day of the 2023-24 season means they now have the chance to record consecutive league wins over Burnley for the first time since September 2003 – and for the first time in the top flight since March 1967. They have also never managed back-to-back league victories away to Burnley, with this being their 52nd visit.

Burnley, meanwhile, have suffered defeat in six of their last seven Premier League fixtures (winning one). Just two of their last seven league wins have come against non-promoted opposition – against Fulham in December 2023 (2-0) and Brentford in March 2024 (2-1).

Goals in this fixture have not been a precious commodity, with both teams finding the net in six of the last seven league encounters between them, the only exception being Burnley’s 1-0 Championship win in February 2016.

Forest have lost their last two league games by a 3-0 scoreline and have not lost three on the bounce in the top-flight since March 2024. They’re also on a run of 12 league matches without a clean sheet, having previously managed eight in 14.

Defensively, both sides have been struggling of late, with Burnley having conceded the highest expected goals against total in the Premier League this season (9.4), while only Man United (0.17) have allowed a higher xG per shot faced than Forest (0.15).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Burnley – 32.2%

Draw – 25.4%

Nottingham Forest – 42.4%