Nuno Espirito Santo is shutting out speculation about his future ahead of West Ham's huge relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest, though he admits everyone at the club is "worried" about their position in the Premier League table.

West Ham were thrashed 3-0 by Wolves on Saturday, with Nuno's former club having been winless through 19 games of the season prior to that match.

That result saw their chances of being relegated jump to 76.6%, according to the Opta supercomputer, ahead of Tuesday's meeting with another of Nuno's old clubs.

Forest are four points clear of West Ham in 17th, with the supercomputer assigning Sean Dyche's men a 22.3% chance of the drop. 

Reports suggest another negative result could spell the end for Nuno, just over three months after he took the reins, but he is focused purely on his team's performance.

"I've been around a long time, and my focus is not on speculation. No, no, no," Nuno told reporters when asked about his future.

"How can I help my players? How can I make them better? How can we solve and improve the situation at West Ham?

"We have to apologise to the fans. They know we need them. But it's not the moment to ask. We are worried and we are concerned, but it's a good thing we have a game tomorrow to put things better.

"We have to perform better, make better decisions, put in more effort. Everything has to be at our maximum. That's the good part in football; it always gives you a chance."

Nuno was in charge of Forest when they lost 3-0 to West Ham in the reverse fixture, and this will be the 14th instance of a manager being in charge of both teams across their two meetings in a single Premier League campaign. 

2 - In the last two seasons, the only two times that the team in 20th position have led by 3+ goals in a Premier League match have both been against Nuno Espírito Santo.

Nott'm Forest 0-3 West Ham (Aug 2025)
Wolves 3-0 West Ham (Jan 2026)

Painful. pic.twitter.com/jYT7KYEhTk

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 3, 2026

Only Harry Redknapp, with Portsmouth and Southampton in 2004-05, has ever lost both matches. 

Dyche initially oversaw an upturn following his arrival, but after a difficult festive period, he admits his side do not yet boast the defensive nous he desires.

"I'm not bothered about whether it's my team in that respect or not, but it's fair to say my teams have been pretty firm and organised," Dyche said.

"That's something we put in place and it needs constant correction because we've made a few mistakes, which we have been punished for."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

West Ham – Mateus Fernandes

Fernandes leads all West Ham players for open-play chances created in the Premier League this season, with 20. 

The former Southampton man – who was the only West Ham player to create multiple chances against Wolves – also ranks second in their squad for successful passes into the final third with 149, after Lucas Paqueta (199).

Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Gibbs-White was on target in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, with that goal taking him to 50 overall goal involvements in the Premier League (22 goals, 28 assists).

Only Elliot Anderson has created more chances (30 to 23) or completed more passes into the final third (335 to 267) than Gibbs-White this campaign.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

West Ham are winless in their last nine Premier League games (D4 L5), last enduring a longer run without a win in the competition between December 2006 and March 2007 (11 games).

But Forest are also in dismal form, losing four straight Premier League games. 

They last lost five in a row between August and October 2022, while Dyche has never lost five consecutively in the same campaign in the competition before.

Forest have alternated between winning (three) and not winning (one draw, one defeat) in their last six Premier League matches to be played on a Tuesday, losing 2-0 at home to Everton last week.

Next up, a trip to the capital.  pic.twitter.com/Lkq3bNsqFu

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 5, 2026

However, West Ham do not look well-equipped to take advantage of the visitors' poor form, having failed to register a single shot on target against a previously-winless Wolves team.

That was the third time they had done so in the Premier League this season (also versus Arsenal and Liverpool), with no side failing in more different games (Burnley also three).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham – 39.1%

Nottingham Forest – 34.4%

Draw – 26.5%