One of the teams dreading the World Cup break was Nottingham Forest, as Steve Cooper’s team had just defeated Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur in quick succession.
For the first time all season, Forest had won back-to-back games after that return, but it appears that momentum has waned lately.
Before defeating Valencia 2-1 on Friday, Steve Cooper’s team had dropped three straight friendlies to Stoke City, Atromitos, and Olympiacos.
With goals against the Spanish powerhouses, Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis lifted Cooper and Forest’s spirits ahead of their return to competitive play.
With Manchester United and Chelsea to follow in the Premier League, Cooper will be eager to see his players produce a strong performance against opponents who proved on Saturday that they are back up to speed.
Prior to a trip to promotion rivals Norwich City, Jon Dahl Tomasson had previously witnessed Blackburn lose 4-1 at home to rivals Preston North End.
However, Rovers came back with a fantastic 2-0 victory in East Anglia, which allowed them to maintain third place in the standings ahead of their hosts.
Unbelievably, Blackburn has gone 23 games in the Championship without recording a draw, yet they faced West Ham United in the last round of this competition and came away with a draw.
But following a thrilling 2-2 draw, Blackburn won on penalties, giving them a chance to advance to the competition’s round of eight for the first time in eleven years.
1×2 Betting Odds
Blackburn will be confident of taking down another Premier League opponent after their impressive victory at the weekend.
Nevertheless, we must respect Forest’s superior calibre and performance prior to the break, which could very well mean victory to the Premier League club.
Blackburn will feel confident about taking on the Premier League side in front of their home crowd, but they are not the favourites for a win, with odds @ 3.29.
Forest will feel they can advance past Blackburn, and their odds of doing that stand @ 2.40.
The possibility of a stalemate and extra time to be followed, stands @ 3.52.
Total goals over/under
The odds that the total number of goals score will be over 2.5, stands @ 2.03.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 1.91.
