Brighton predicted XI vs. Nottingham Forest: two major changes made as £53m duo return amid injury headache

A depleted Brighton squad will travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon hoping to breathe new life into a Premier League campaign that has faltered substantially in recent months. The Seagulls have won just once in the top flight since beating Newcastle United on September 2nd, and have dropped to eighth in the table, seven points adrift of a Champions League qualification spot.

Each of their last two outings have ended in frustrating 1-1 draws against relegation-threatened Everton and Sheffield United, with a red card and an own goal proving enough to cost them two points against the Blades a fortnight ago.

For their part, Nottingham Forest are enduring a similarly unspectacular period of form, also winning just the once since September 2nd. That result came against high-flying Aston Villa on Bonfire Night, but since then Steve Cooper's men suffered a late 3-2 defeat at the hands of West Ham. As such, Saturday's clash will represent a significant opportunity to return to winning ways for both the hosts and Albion, although Roberto De Zerbi's side are likely to be without a number of key figures for the trip.

Brighton could be missing as many as 10 players for their clash against Forest at the weekend, with a number of first team names included in that contingent of absentees. Mahmoud Dahoud, for instance, is definitely set to miss out after receiving a three-game ban for his straight red card against Sheffield United a couple of weeks, while captain Lewis Dunk is a considerable doubt after withdrawing from Gareth Southgate's England squad for the latest round of international fixtures.

Elsewhere, Julio Enciso is yet to return from a meniscus tear suffered in August, while Pervis Estupinan shared an image of himself during the break watching Ecuador play Chile on television with his leg in a brace, massively throwing into question his availability this weekend. Similarly doubtful is teenage striker Evan Ferguson, who was taken off after 55 minutes during the Republic of Ireland's recent clash with the Netherlands due to a hamstring complaint.

Tariq Lamptey, perpetually hampered by injuries, travelled for both the Ajax and Sheffield United matches, but was not named on the bench for either fixture, Solly March is set to miss the rest of the campaign after undergoing ACL surgery, and James Milner limped off during the early exchanges of Albion's most recent continental adventure in Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, Danny Welbeck is expected to be sidelined for a while to come, and Kaoru Mitoma could be a doubt after missing out on international duty with Japan. A statement from the winger read:  “Since this is a World Cup qualifier, I joined the team believing in my potential to contribute. But unfortunately, seeing as I won’t be able to play at 100 per cent, I’ve decided to let my teammates play on my behalf, as much as I regret doing so. For now, I will work hard on recovering as soon as possible.”

Taking all of that into account, check out our predicted XI for Brighton's clash with Nottingham Forest below...