Blackburn Rovers vs Nottingham Forest

Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest are set to trade tackles in an evenly-poised EFL Cup fourth-round tie.

Blackburn Rovers have experienced mixed fortunes since club football returned to action in the wake of the 2022 World Cup, losing 4-1 to Preston North End before dispatching Norwich City 2-0 on the road last time out. In addition to excelling during the mid-season break (W2) and getting back to winning ways in the lead-up to this encounter, the ‘Rovers’ have already staged an upset in this season’s EFL Cup, overcoming Premier League powerhouse West Ham United in the previous round via penalties. It’s also worth noting that before the abovementioned defeat to Preston, John Dahl Tomasson’s men had won six competitive home matches in succession, registering four shutouts in that sequence.

In the meantime, Nottingham Forest experienced a thoroughly stressful warm-up campaign, losing three successive friendlies by an aggregate score of 6-3 before taking down Valencia 2-1 last time out. Despite playing down the odds to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the previous EFL Cup round, the ‘Tricky Trees’ can ill-afford to rest on their laurels, with one quick look at their away form providing the answers why. Since a 3-0 humbling of lower-league Grimsby in the inaugural EFL Cup round, Steve Cooper’s men have gone winless on five domestic travels on the trot (D1, L4), frustratingly conceding 4+ goals on three occasions. As hot Premier League relegation candidates, Forest would be well advised to forget about their two-match winning away H2H streak against Blackburn.