Ivan Juric urged Southampton to show the same intensity that they did against Manchester United when they travel to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.

Southampton looked like they would pick up a stunning 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Thursday but instead conceded a 12-minute Amad Diallo hat-trick late on to suffer a 17th league defeat of the campaign.

It means they remain bottom of the table, 10 points from safety, after an 11-match winless run, while they have lost their last four Premier League games in a row.

Juric, who is still searching for a first league win in charge, wants his team to keep up the performance level while improving the final product.

"We don't have a lot of pressure. We have six points and are last on the table. It's part of the group. We have to be more competitive in crucial moments of the game," Juric said after the United game.

"The guys are working well. But we need to work a little more hard to maintain the intensity. I want to see the same spirit in the next game.

"[Now] I am angry. But we have to start thinking about Nottingham Forest. The players have to be conscious that they can compete and play well. Our idea is to improve every game."

Meanwhile, Forest are still flying high at the top of the table, sitting in third after their 1-1 draw with leaders Liverpool on Tuesday.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side were on a seven-match winning run in all competitions before that result, but they now have not lost since early December.

Having faced the team at the top last time out, it is a much different prospect ahead of Forest on Sunday, but Nuno is still expecting a test.

"I think they competed very well [against United]," Nuno said. "We watched the game, we analysed.

"That shows credit to them in the position they are being able to compete... We expect a very tough game on Sunday.

"We don't know how the game [will turn out]. So, we have to prepare. Analyse Southampton, they have good players."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

Chris Wood has been involved in four goals in his last five Premier League games against Southampton (three goals, one assist). However, all of these have come at St Mary's Stadium.

Since the start of last season, Anthony Elanga (eight assists) and Wood (one) have combined for nine Premier League goals – it is the most any pair of Forest players have done so in the competition's history.  

Southampton – Kamaldeen Sulemana

Kamaldeen Sulemana caused havoc for Manchester United in their loss on Thursday and was Southampton's best player on the field, and will count himself unlucky not to have scored in that game.

He had four shots, more than any of his team-mates, though only one was on target as he created chances worth 0.4 expected goals (xG). He also had five touches in the opposition box, another team-high.

MATCH PREDICTION: NOTTINGHAM FOREST WIN

Forest have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League meetings with Southampton (W8 D3), going down 3-1 at home in April 1997.

Forest have lost just two of their 11 Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table (W8 D1), winning each of the last three in a row. Just one of these defeats came at the City Ground, though that was the aforementioned loss to Southampton.

The Saints, meanwhile, have lost their last three Premier League games against Forest – they last lost four consecutive league games against them between 1934 and 1935 in the second tier.

Southampton are winless in their last 23 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the top four of the table (D8 L15), since a 1-0 win against Liverpool in January 2021. They have lost all four such games this season by an aggregate score of 12-4.

Since the start of December, no team has earned more Premier League points than Forest (19 – W6 D1 L1), despite the Tricky Trees losing their first match at the start of this run.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest – 63.9%

Draw – 19.8%

Southampton – 16.2%