Both bidding to get back to triumphant ways in the Premier League, high-flying Nottingham Forest and lowly Southampton prepare for battle at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men failed to make it eight wins on the spin as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Liverpool in the midweek round of fixtures, but their title credentials are not up for debate as they sit in the top three of the Premier League table.
At the other end of the division, the Saints will remain in 20th place no matter what transpires on Sunday and are reeling from a 3-1 loss against Manchester United, whom they led against until Amad Diallo's astonishing 12-minute hat-trick.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 119
Nott'm Forest wins: 53
Draws: 27
Southampton wins: 39
First doing battle in an 1895 FA Cup match and frequently crossing paths in the top two divisions of English football since, Southampton and Nottingham Forest have faced each other 119 times over the years.
The Tricky Trees boast the bragging rights in terms of overall victories, having conquered their South Coast counterparts on 53 occasions while suffering 39 defeats, and 27 other battles have ended honours even.
Either side of Southampton's relegation from and promotion back to the Premier League, Forest have had their number, as the two-time European Cup winners have prevailed in each of their last three head-to-heads.
A solitary Morgan Gibbs-White goal was enough to propel Forest to a 1-0 victory during the earliest stages of the 2024-25 season, a year and a half on from their identical success at St Mary's in January 2023 courtesy of a Taiwo Awoniyi effort.
However, sandwiched in between those two low-scoring showdowns is a seven-goal spectacular at the City Ground in May 2023, where Forest edged a frenetic battle by four goals to three; Awoniyi (2) and Gibbs-White were on target once again.
Prior to the Saints' Premier League return, though, Forest did the double over Southampton in the 2011-12 Championship season; their most recent win in this fixture was a dominant 3-0 triumph at the City Ground, where Morgan Schneiderlin capped off the scoring.
The Saints have to go even further back to 1997 for their last top-flight success over Nottingham Forest, which came five years after the Garibaldi beat Southampton 3-2 in the final of the last Zenith Data Systems Cup, a competition coined for clubs in the top two tiers of English football during their ban from European competition.
Matt Le Tissier scored one of Southampton's two goals in that showpiece match and is the outright leading scorer in this particular fixture with an eye-catching 11 strikes, three more than ex-Forest attacker Ian Storey-Moore managed against the Saints.
Last 20 meetings
Aug 24, 2024: Southampton 0-1 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
May 08, 2023: Nott'm Forest 4-3 Southampton (Premier League)
Jan 04, 2023: Southampton 0-1 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Jan 14, 2012: Nott'm Forest 0-3 Southampton (Championship)
Sep 10, 2011: Southampton 3-2 Nott'm Forest (Championship)
May 03, 2009: Nott'm Forest 3-1 Southampton (Championship)
Dec 20, 2008: Southampton 0-2 Nott'm Forest (Championship)
Dec 28, 1998: Nott'm Forest 1-1 Southampton (Premier League)
Aug 29, 1998: Southampton 1-2 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Apr 05, 1997: Nott'm Forest 1-3 Southampton (Premier League)
Sep 04, 1996: Southampton 2-2 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Jan 13, 1996: Nott'm Forest 1-0 Southampton (Premier League)
Aug 19, 1995: Southampton 3-4 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Mar 18, 1995: Nott'm Forest 3-0 Southampton (Premier League)
Sep 17, 1994: Southampton 1-1 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Mar 24, 1993: Southampton 1-2 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Jan 03, 1993: Nott'm Forest 2-1 Southampton (FA Cup Third Round)
Nov 28, 1992: Nott'm Forest 1-2 Southampton (Premier League)
Apr 08, 1992: Southampton 0-1 Nott'm Forest (First Division)
Mar 29, 1992: Nott'm Forest 3-2 Southampton (Zenith Data Systems Cup Final)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Aug 24, 2024: Southampton 0-1 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
May 08, 2023: Nott'm Forest 4-3 Southampton (Premier League)
Jan 04, 2023: Southampton 0-1 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Dec 28, 1998: Nott'm Forest 1-1 Southampton (Premier League)
Aug 29, 1998: Southampton 1-2 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Apr 05, 1997: Nott'm Forest 1-3 Southampton (Premier League)
Sep 04, 1996: Southampton 2-2 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Jan 13, 1996: Nott'm Forest 1-0 Southampton (Premier League)
Aug 19, 1995: Southampton 3-4 Nott'm Forest (Premier League)
Mar 18, 1995: Nott'm Forest 3-0 Southampton (Premier League)
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Ben Knapton
