Nottingham Forest vs Bristol City Prediction: Tricky Trees vulnerable to cup upset

For the second round in a row, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City require an FA Cup replay on Tuesday night to advance and the reward for the winner will be a home tie against Manchester United.

Forest defeated Blackpool in extra-time of their third-round replay at Bloomfield Road after a 2-2 draw at the City Ground while Bristol City claimed a Premier League scalp in West Ham, winning 1-0 at Ashton Gate following a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.

It ended goalless when these two sides met in Bristol 12 days ago, in what was a game of very few clearcut chances, and spectators will be hoping for some more goalmouth entertainment when the pair renew their rivalry in Nottingham on Tuesday evening.

Team News

Forest are without Chris Wood, who could be set for eight weeks on the sidelines, but Divock Origi is nearing his return and could be involved.

January arrivals Gio Reyna, Rodrigo Ribeiro and Matz Sels are ineligible to feature against the Robins while Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates are both suspended.

Africa Cup of Nations semi-finalists Ola Aina, Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare remain absent but Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate have returned from international duty.

Taiwo Awoniyi and Anthony Elanga are back from injury but unlikely to play the full 90 minutes while Callum Hudson-Odoi is a doubt after limping off in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Bristol City captain Matty James is a doubt after sustaining a knock during Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Leeds while fellow midfielder Taylor Gardner-Hickman is suspended.

Cam Pring is also banned while the replay comes too soon for Mark Sykes, Kal Naismith and Rob Atkinson.

Deadline day arrival Dire Mebude, who arrived on loan from Belgian side Westerlo, is unable to play having not been registered before the original tie at Ashton Gate.

Match Odds

Nottingham Forest are 1/2 to win in 90 minutes with Bristol City 11/2 and a draw available at 10/3.

With Wood sidelined, Awoniyi, who is Forest’s leading available scorer with five goals in 13 appearances this season, is 10/3 to open the scoring.

Bristol City or draw double chance @ 6/4

Forest remain depleted for this fourth-round replay and, with them embroiled in a Premier League relegation scrap, it is difficult to know how much significance this cup clash will carry.

The Tricky Trees needed extra-time in their third-round replay with Blackpool, who ply their trade a division below Championship outfit Bristol City, and they managed only two shots on target in the goalless draw at Ashton Gate.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have won only two of their last 15 games in all competitions and they represent poor value at odds-on against the Robins, who upset West Ham in a replay in the previous round and can avoid defeat.

Under 2.5 goals @ EVS

There were only two shots on target in the initial tie in Bristol and another low-scoring encounter could precede at the City Ground, where Forest have won only one of their last seven games.

City boss Liam Manning will look to keep things tight and pick their chances on the counter-attack and eight of their last nine matches have featured two goals or fewer.

Both of the Robins’ FA Cup meetings with West Ham went under 2.5 goals and, like the initial tie, this clash may follow suit.