High-flying Nottingham Forest travel to Blackpool for a tricky Bloomfield Road encounter on Saturday afternoon. Mark O’Haire shares his favourite fancy.
Blackpool impress against Blades
Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was full of praise for his players after seeing the Tangerines sign-off for the international break with 0-0 draw against high-flying Sheffield United in an entertaining affair at Bloomfield Road. The Seasiders grew into the game, learning lessons and adapting throughout as they more than matched the Blades.
Blackpool largely controlled the second-half and also had chances to pinch the points – Josh Bowler hit the woodwork and CJ Hamilton blazed over when well placed. The Lancashire outfit won the shot count 10-7 on the night to remain safely ensconced in mid-table of the Championship in their first season after returning to the second-tier.
Speaking post-match, Critchley said: “I thought it was a really entertaining 0-0. Sheffield United edged the first half but we had chances as well. I said to the players at half-time that we lacked a little belief and I said ‘let’s go for it’. We took the game to them in the second-half and if any side was going to go on and win it, that was going to be us.”
Forest run Liverpool close
Nottingham Forest produced an excellent effort before going down 1-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals before the international break. Steve Cooper’s side pushed the Premier League title challengers all the way, and saw a late penalty appeal turned down by VAR when midfielder Ryan Yates fell after a challenge with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.
The Tricky Trees also regarded Philip Zinckernagel’s miss as decisive to the outcome, the Danish winger side-footing wide from six yards from Brennan Johnson’s inviting cross just a couple of minutes before Liverpool opened the scoring with the only goal of the game. But Cooper preferred to focus on the positives as Forest lost for only the second time in 2022.
Speaking post-match, Cooper said: “We know Liverpool are excellent, we knew it before we played them and you saw it in the game, but on the whole we handled it fairly well. We created some really good chances and if somebody said before the game that we’d create that many chances then we would have taken it. I was pleased with the lads’ efforts.”
Recent meetings between Blackpool and Nottingham Forest have tended to be tight affairs – five of the last eight encounters have ended all-square, with the Seasiders picking up a solitary success (W1-D5-L2). That draw-bias has also been prominent at Bloomfield Road where the duo have played out eight stalemates in their last 11 head-to-head here.
Blackpool 3.1511/5 have recovered from a slow transition period following promotion to be perched just two points outside of the top-half of the Championship table. The Seasiders have tabled W14-D8-L10 across their last 32 outings, a run that began after September’s international break. The hosts W10-D3-L5 at Bloomfield Road in that same sample.
Nottingham Forest 2.427/5 were bottom of the Championship when Steve Cooper took charge in September and the former England U17s boss has since overseen a significant upturn in fortunes. The Reds sit second based on points earned since Cooper’s arrival (W15-D9-L4) with three of the four defeats coming against top-eight opposition.
Blackpool come into this contest having accumulated three successive clean sheets in the Championship, and the Seasiders have conceded just 16 goals in their last 18 home outings. In fact, Neil Critichley’s troops have recorded an impressive haul of eight shutouts in that 18-game sequence, highlighting their potential to keep contests tight and competitive.
No team has conceded fewer goals on the road than Nottingham Forest (14) though, with the Tricky Trees falling to only four defeats on their league travels this term (W7-D6-L4). The Reds remain obdurate opposition and will be targeting at least a point from a tricky away day immediately after the international break. It could therefore prove to be a close affair.
With both sides impressing at the back, Blackpool conceding just five goals before the interval at home and Forest’s away fixtures producing just 12 first-half goals, I’m happy to have an interest in the 2.757/4 for Under 0.5 First-Half Goals – the odds imply a 36% chance of a goalless first 45 minutes whereas the goal expectancy suggests it should be closer to 42%.
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
