'A big disappointment': Paul Merson predicts who will win on Sunday - Nottingham Forest or Newcastle United

Newcastle United face a tough test this weekend as they take on third-place Nottingham Forest on Sunday at 2pm - Live on Sky Sports.

That wasn't a typo either, Nottingham Forest are genuinely third in the Premier League right now, and not only that, only Erling Haaland has scored more goals this season than Forest's former Newcastle striker Chris Wood.

Still, at least those in the media aren't letting it go to their heads, eh, Paul Merson? Right?

Forest are indeed having an incredible start to the season, but Newcastle have already beaten them once - granted it was via a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in the Carabao Cup, but we still did it. Plus, Newcastle are going into this one off the back of wins against Chelsea and Arsenal so confidence will be high.

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Paul Merson is backing Nottingham Forest for Europe already

That doesn't seem to matter to Paul Merson, though, who has backed a Forest win on Sunday in his prediction for Sportskeeda.

"Nottingham Forest are flying, aren't they? This is a really hard game for Newcastle in my opinion. I say this every week, Forest are a much better team away from home. But they got an incredible win at home against West Ham last weekend and I have a feeling they will back it up!

"If Forest do that, they will be virtually safe from relegation in my opinion. Can you believe it? It's only been 11 games and we're talking about them retaining their status in the top-flight. 22 points from the first 11 games is really, really good if you're Forest.

"I like when teams aim for the stars and I'm going to say they should look at European qualification as a realistic target if they can beat Newcastle. If they can remain positive and believe in their abilities, I'm sure Forest will stand a chance in making it to the Europa League or the Conference League. Like I said before, it seems like one of them seasons where a lot of the teams could suffer injuries. This opens up a unique opportunity for teams like Forest to sneak up the ladder.

"A defeat would be a big disappointment for Newcastle, especially after that win over Arsenal. But I just haven't seen enough from them to think they will outplay Forest away from home on current form.

"Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Newcastle United"

We're not sure how things are going to go on Sunday

Do we believe 100% that we'll beat Forest? Not really, no. It's an away game and both of those fantastic performances that Newcastle just put together were at home.

But we believe that Nottingham Forest will taper off at some point and drop out of the race for Europe? Absolutely.

That's no disrespect to them, either, I've always had a soft spot for Forest, but this just feels like a flash in the pan. Still not totally confident about Sunday though, and Merson isn't helping.