Nottingham Forest play host to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday evening on the back of losing two successive fixtures in the Championship.
Despite having sold star man Adam Armstrong, Blackburn make the trip to the City Ground after claiming four points from games with Swansea City and Millwall.
Match preview
© Reuters
On the back of last season's disappointing results, Forest supporters would have been relatively confident about picking up points from fixtures against Coventry City and Bournemouth.
However, back-to-back 2-1 defeats have left Forest as one of just two clubs still looking for their first point in the Championship, keeping the pressure on Chris Hughton.
The fact that no team possesses a 100% record in the division means that the East Midlands outfit are effectively just one win from making significant progress up the table.
Nevertheless, Forest have been left to focus on playing one game at a time during a period where Hughton and the club's owners will be looking to attract new signings.
On a positive note, recent arrival Philip Zinckernagel marked his first Championship start with the assist for Scott McKenna's goal against Bournemouth.
© Reuters
Like at Forest, fans of Blackburn have had to endure a quiet summer in the transfer market, a consequence of Armstrong's big-money exit not taking place until last week.
That said, Tony Mowbray now has funds to improve a squad of players which have already collected four points from fixtures where they were the clear underdogs.
The point at Millwall was all the more impressive through Blackburn being second best at The Den, a quality which Mowbray will hope stands his side in good stead going forward.
Having opted for a lack of rotation during the EFL Cup, many members of Mowbray's squad will be playing their fourth game in just 11 days on Wednesday night.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Mowbray must decide whether to stick with the 3-5-2 formation which he used during the second half against Millwall.
Tyrhys Dolan was withdrawn at the break to accommodate Hayden Carter, but the Blackburn attacker may get the nod ahead of Sam Gallagher.
Liverpool loanee Leighton Clarkson is expected to be named on the substitutes' bench.
Forest will remain without Gaetan Bong as the left-back continues his suspension for violent conduct against Coventry.
Joao Carvalho, Alex Mighten and Lewis Grabban are all in contention for a recall in the final third.
Cafu may also be preferred in midfield if Hughton opts to introduce fresh legs.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Lawrence-Gabriel, McKenna, Figueiredo, Osei-Tutu; Yates, Cafu; Mighten, Johnson, Zinckernagel; Grabban
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Ayala, Lenihan, Carter; Nyambe, Buckley, Rothwell, Travis, Pickering; Brereton Diaz, Dolan
We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Despite their recent defeats, Forest can claim that luck has gone against them in both fixtures.
With that in mind, we feel that Hughton's side will finally get a win on the board on Wednesday night, outlasting a Blackburn side that did not rotate in the EFL Cup last week.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 42.36%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 29.85% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.46%) and 0-2 (8.11%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 1-0 (10.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.02%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Blackburn Rovers would win this match.
