Nottingham Forest v Huddersfield: Reds represent value

“Forest picked up a solitary point from their opening seven games this season yet the Reds have since boasted an impressive W9-D6-L2 record, including W4-D3-L1 as hosts.”

Nottingham Forest chief Steve Cooper admitted the Reds “fell short” of their expected standards and slipped to a deserved 2-0 defeat to in-form Middlesbrough on Boxing Day. The uncharacteristically poor display ended a nine-match unbeaten streak for the Tricky Trees, and was only the second Forest reverse suffered since the Welshman took charge.

A horrible Ryan Yates own goal gifted the hosts the lead in a dismal first half for the visitors at the Riverside Stadium. However, Philip Zinckernagel spurned a good opportunity on the hour, while Joe Worrall was off target with a header soon after. And those missed opportunities proved costly as Andraz Sporar went on to kill the game off for the hosts.

Forest failed to land an attempt on-target with Cooper saying, “In terms of both the result and the performance we fell short. Technically, we were below par; we gave away the ball too much, balls were being over-hit or going out of play – that’s not been like us. And without the ball, we just didn’t get enough pressure on it.”

Meanwhile, Joe Lolley and Alex Mighton remained sidelined through injury, whilst Jordi Osei-Tutu, Max Lowe, Loic Mbe Soh and Rodrigo Ely are also unavailable here.

Huddersfield seal come-from-behind success

Huddersfield moved into the Championship’s top-six after a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 success against 10-man Blackpool on Boxing Day. Welsh winger Sorba Thomas netted twice in the space of four minutes in a rousing finale to clinch maximum points for the Terriers, who had fallen behind inside the first minute, and were trailing again in the 18th minute.

Danny Ward equalised early on for Carlos Corberan’s charges, but Town were forced to chase the game far large swathes thereafter, although their task became easier after visiting defender Jordan Gabriel was sent off just after the hour mark. That set the stage for a bombardment on the Blackpool goal that eventually paid off with Thomas’ late double.

Speaking post-match, Corberan said, “It was important psychological for the team to recover the feeling of winning. To win two games in a row is always tough to achieve in the Championship. Now we are in a dynamic where we haven’t lost in the last four games.”

Huddersfield are set to be without key centre-back Tom Lees here after the defender suffered a sickening head injury in the Boxing Day match-up, although Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill should be back in contention after recovering from illness.

Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield have shared an equal W7-D3-L7 record in their past 17 league meetings going back to 2007/08. The Tricky Trees picked up a rare away success against Town in September’s reverse encounter and are looking to secure a third triumph from four recent match-ups at the City Ground. However, Huddersfield won here last term.

Nottingham Forest 2.0811/10 picked up a solitary point from their opening seven games this season yet the Reds have since boasted an impressive W9-D6-L2 record, including W4-D3-L1 as hosts. The improvement under Steve Cooper has brought the Tricky Trees to within reach of the play-off positions, only twice conceding multiple goals in 17 Championship dates.

Huddersfield 3.953/1 have performed above expectations to be perched inside the top-six as we approach the New Year. However, inconsistency has blighted the Terriers’ campaign; Town have W2-D2-L2 coming into this clash with Carlos Corberan’s men tending to find the going tougher on their travels (W3-D4-L5). The guests have lost all three trips to the top-10.

Neither Nottingham Forest nor Huddersfield have been amongst the leading candidates for goals and entertainment in the Championship. The duo are each seeing around 2.50 goals per-game with a similar 50% hit-rate when backing Over 2.5 Goals 2.265/4, although the Reds’ improvements under Steve Cooper have made low-scoring showdowns more commonplace.

Seven of Forest’s last 10 have produced fewer than three goals, and that’s also been the case in nine of Huddersfield’s past 14 league fixtures, highlighting why the market makes Under 2.5 Goals a skinny 1.664/6 shot. I’m therefore happy to leave the goals options alone and instead invest focus on the hosts in the Asian Handicap market.

The 1.784/5 available on improving Nottingham Forest 0 & -0.5 holds plenty of appeal, with only half of our stake lost if the match ends all-square. We’ll paid out in full should Cooper’s troops take top honours, and only lose our full stake if Huddersfield pick up a rare away success on Thursday night.