Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Nottingham Forest & Cardiff City face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the FA Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
There should be plenty of energy on the pitch in this game, as both sides have had time to recuperate from their last game. Let's hope both teams are ready to give it all.
Nottingham Forest form and stats
Last season, Nottingham's FA Cup journey ended in the 3rd round.Overall Championship stats at home this season for Nottingham Forest are 3-4-4 (wins-draw-losses).
Nottingham are returning here after visiting Preston North End in a Championship game and winning with a 1-0 scoreline. Lewis Grabban scored the goal(s). 1-1 away at Stoke City before that.
This is expected to be a close game, with Nottingham perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Nottingham Forest as a small favourite), we find 16 games. Nottingham Forest has won five of these, drawn three and lost eight.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Nottingham here at The City Ground in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (10 from 11 games). 11 goals have been conceded. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
Cardiff City form and stats
Cardiff City's mission in FA Cup last season failed in the 4th round replays.The visitors are W4-D3-L4 on the road this term. That's in the Championship. It's a growing despair in Cardiff as they have recorded three consecutive losses. Cardiff City has lost their two previous away games and are eager to kill a negative trend in its infancy.
There might be some fixture complaints from Cardiff as they are again playing away from home after losing on the road in their previous match, the Championship match against Wycombe Wanderers (1-2). A loss against Brentford was the result prior to that, in a Championship home game.
So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Cardiff City playing away and similar expectations, we found twelve relevant matches. Results were five Cardiff City wins, five draws and two defeats.
Cardiff find the net regularly in their away games. 11 goals from 11 away fixtures in the league. As opposed to that, Cardiff have seen the ball go into their own net 11 times on the road. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.
Head 2 Head
Numbers for the last ten meetings between these two teams are: one win for Nottingham Forest, one draw and eight wins for Cardiff City. Over 2,5 goals: four times; under 2,5 goals: six games.Top Goalscorers
  K. Moore 8 goals |   L. Taylor 4 goals |  S. Morrison 3 goals |
Nottingham Forest missing players
Cardiff City missing players
| Nottingham Forest | Cardiff City | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Won | W | 5 | 9 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 3 | 5 | ||
| 13 | 5 | Lost | L | 5 | 11 | ||
| 17 | 11 | Scored | S | 13 | 31 | ||
| 31 | 15 | Conceded | C | 15 | 31 | ||
| 92% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 68% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 69% | 80% | ||
| 20% | 33% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 38% | 44% | ||
| 8% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 8% | 16% | ||
| 4% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 12% | ||
| 40% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 46% | 44% | ||
| 24% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 31% | 28% | ||
| 44% | 33% | Failed to Score | F T | 31% | 32% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.5 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.2 | 1.8 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 11.6 | 14.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.8 | 11 | ||
| 3.1 | 4.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.8 | 3.4 | ||
| 22% | 21% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 35% | 36% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Norwich City | 23 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 20 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 47 |
| 2 | Swansea City | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 43 |
| 3 | AFC Bournemouth | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 37 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 41 |
| 4 | Brentford | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 36 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 41 |
| 5 | Reading | 23 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 28 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 40 |
| 6 | Watford | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 37 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 36 |
| 8 | Stoke City | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 26 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 35 |
| 9 | Barnsley | 23 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 18 | -2 | 34 |
| 10 | Bristol City | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 33 |
| 11 | Blackburn Rovers | 23 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 32 |
| 12 | Preston North End | 23 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 30 | 31 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 18 | -1 | 32 |
| 13 | Huddersfield Town | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 32 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 21 | -4 | 31 |
| 14 | Luton Town | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 | -4 | 30 |
| 15 | Cardiff City | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 29 |
| 16 | Coventry City | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 18 | -9 | 26 |
| 17 | Millwall | 21 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 | -2 | 25 |
| 18 | Birmingham City | 23 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 29 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 8 | -12 | 23 |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 15 | -10 | 22 |
| 20 | Queens Park Rangers | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 30 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -10 | 21 |
| 21 | Sheffield Wednesday | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | -8 | 19 |
| 22 | Derby County | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 24 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 10 | -10 | 19 |
| 23 | Rotherham United | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 29 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 16 |
| 24 | Wycombe Wanderers | 23 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 16 | 35 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 21 | -19 | 15 |
- Nottingham Forest
- Nottinghamshire Live - (local newspaper)
- Cardiff City
- Wales Online - (local newspaper)