Brighton v Nottingham Forest

Brighton and Nottingham Forest go head to head in a clash of two in-form sides with a spot in the semi-finals of the FA Cup up for grabs. Brighton have been on a sensational run of form ever since they were put to the sword by their opponents here, losing 7-0 at the City Ground. They’re undefeated across their last seven games, winning six of those encounters.

Nottingham Forest have been on a decent run themselves after losing back-to-back games against Fulham and Newcastle a few weeks ago. They’ve taken points off Manchester City and Arsenal in recent games as well as firing four past Ipswich in their last game before the international break.

⭐ Brighton v Nottingham Forest Best Bet

Brighton have failed to get the better of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in both league meetings between the sides, with Nottingham Forest having a serious psychological edge over their opponents stemming from their most recent meeting.

Forest fired seven goals past Brighton without reply in the recent league meeting between the sides at the City Ground. This actually ended up being the catalyst for Brighton to go on a solid run of form which saw them see off Chelsea and Newcastle to reach this stage of the competition. 

The other meeting between the sides ended in a 2-2 draw, stalemates have been common for Brighton at home this season. Fabian Hurzeler’s side have drawn 11 games this campaign which is more than any other Premier League side, six of these have been at home meaning that Brighton have failed to win 57% of their games at the Amex this season.

Nottingham Forest have one of the best away records in the Premier League this campaign. They’ve avoided defeat in 10 of their 15 away games in the Premier League this season (66%) and should be encouraged by their positive record over Brighton this term. Only Arsenal and Liverpool can boast a better away record than Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

🟢 Brighton v Nottingham Forest #WhatOddsPaddy Tip

👕 Brighton v Nottingham Forest Predicted XI

🔍 Brighton v Nottingham Forest Players to Watch

🔵 Yankuba Minteh

Minteh has grown into his role on the right-hand side for Brighton this season. The 20-year-old scored in the last round of the FA Cup against his former club, Newcastle, and has shown some real promise at times this season, which has seen him register eight goal contributions across his 24 appearances in the Premier League, with only 13 of these being starts. He’s averaging 0.93 shots on target per 90 and should get chances against a Nottingham Forest team that will be comfortable letting Brighton control the ball.

🔴 Morgan Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White often has more defensive responsibilities than he would like as part of this Nottingham Forest side, which is heavily focused around ensuring that the opposition cannot cut through the middle of the park. Gibbs-White is averaging 1.28 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season and committed four fouls across both meetings with Brighton this season, including being sent off in the initial league meeting at the Amex Stadium. Forest committed 11 fouls at the Amex in the 2-2 draw between the sides and should post similar numbers here, seeing as Brighton had 70% possession in that encounter.

📂 Brighton v Nottingham Forest Cheat Sheet

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💻 Brighton v Nottingham Forest Form and Tactics

Brighton are one of the most tactically flexible sides in the Premier League. Fabian Hurzeler has experimented with a variety of systems in his debut season, some of which have been successful and others which have massively backfired. An example of his tactical setup not quite working was the 7-0 demolition they faced at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, in which Hurzeler opted for just Jack Hinselwood in the middle of the park which meant that Forest could spring counter-attacks with ease and were clinical in hammering home Hurzerler’s error.

Brighton have returned to their usual 4-2-3-1 shape since then, with the midfield duo offering the required protection to stop sides like Nottingham Forest catching them out on the break. Brighton tend to share the goalscoring sround, no Brighton player has hit double digits for goals in the Premier League this season, but Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck, Kaoru Mitoma, Georginio Rutter and Minteh have all pitched in to provide at least five Premier League goals.

This is one of the reasons that Brighton have struggled to kill off games this campaign. A lack of a designated goalscorer has left them a bit blunt in forward areas on occasion.

Nottingham Forest’s gameplan is clear to all by now. Nuno Espirito Santo has made no attempt to hide the fact that his side is set up to be effective on the counter-attack, a lesser utilised approach in modern football. It’s a big contrast to Brighton’s tactically flexible system but for now, it seems to have got the better of Hurzeler and his side with Forest unbeaten in both league meetings with Brighton this season. Forest are likely to surrender the ball, their gameplan can be effective without dominating possession, as shown by the fact that they’re only averaging 39.6% possession per game - the lowest total of any Premier League side.

Forest will line up with a very similar shape to Brighton (4-2-3-1), but this will be more rigid in nature, with each player having clear instructions related to their position with little room for rotations, as we should see in the Brighton side. The clash of styles sets up a really intriguing cup tie here. It’s definitely possible that they cancel each other out as we saw in the initial league meeting between these sides, but Chris Wood could be the deciding factor for Forest here, considering it’s an area that Brighton are slightly lacking in.

🏁 Brighton v Nottingham Forest Ref Watch

• Referee: Peter Bankes

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* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.