Blackburn-Nottingham Forest is a League Cup fourth-round match played on Wednesday at 20:45: stats, line-ups and predictions.
The League Cup in the round of 16 pits two clubs with a distinguished past, in Nottingham Forest’s case also at international level (the two famous Champions Cups won at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s).
The Garibaldi Reds only regained the Premier League last summer and did so by ending a wait of over twenty years, thanks to their success in the Championship playoffs. Blackburn’s last appearance in the top flight – the Rovers have been English champions three times in their history – was in the 2011-12 season.
The Lancashire club has not been able to rise again, even facing relegation to League One in 2017. Led by former AC Milan striker Jon Dahl Tomasson, they have high ambitions again this year: Blackburn are currently third in the table behind Burnley and Sheffield United and are in all respects a candidate for promotion. Since the English cadet division reopened, Rovers have played two matches. In the first, they suffered a heavy defeat against Preston (1-4), but quickly bounced back to win 2-0 at home to Norwich.
Blackburn never (almost) draw
A curiosity: Blackburn are allergic to draws, the only one of the season coming in the League Cup against West Ham, eliminated after penalty kicks (regulation time had ended 2-2). Upstairs, Nottingham Forest are experiencing a lot of tribulations, having completely revolutionised the team in the summer market.
Costello of Blackburn
However, Steve Cooper and his men still remain in the race for safety. They are third last but in the last two days before the break four points had come between Brentford and Crystal Palace, a sign that the team is anything but resigned. The League Cup is certainly not the primary objective but in the third round Nottingham Forest took out none other than Antonio Conte’s Tottenham, beaten 2-0 at the City Ground.
The Prediction
This could be a more open contest than expected, considering Blackburn have already played two official matches and scalped West Ham in the previous round. Nottingham Forest are favourites but Rovers are very likely to find the way of goal on at least one occasion against the second worst defence in the Premier League.
Blackburn v Nottingham Forest likely line-up
- BLACKBURN (3-4-2-1): Kaminski; Wharton, Hyam, Mola; Hedges, Morton, Buckley, Edun; Szmodics, Dolan; Hirst.
- NOTTINGHAM FOREST (4-3-1-2): Henderson; Toffolo, Cook, Worrall, Renan Lodi; Mangala, Yates, O’Brien; Gibbs-White; Awoniyi, Lingard.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
