BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson has had his say on the upcoming FA Cup Fourth Round clash between Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.
It’s Championship vs Premier League at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon, as Steve Cooper’s side host Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes.
The home team pulled off a big shock to get to this stage, with a Lewis Grabban goal downing Arsenal in the previous round, while the visitors hammered fellow top-flight outfit Watford 4-1.
Forest have been on a charge up the Championship since Cooper replaced Chris Hughton in September and they won three in a row after knocking out the Gunners before slipping to defeat at Cardiff last time out.
Meanwhile, Leicester haven’t been able to build up any real momentum this season, losing more league matches than they’ve won and only picking up one point from their last two outings against Spurs and Brighton.
Taking into account the form of the two sides, the expected raucous atmosphere and a sprinkle of FA Cup magic, Lawrenson is predicting that Forest will progress.
Lawro’s Forest vs Leicester FA Cup verdict
‘This is a tough trip for Leicester, even though they will have some players back from the Africa Cup of Nations,’ he writes [BBC Sport].
‘These two teams are still big rivals, even though they haven’t played each other for eight years, and Nottingham Forest have already knocked out one of the big boys by beating Arsenal in round three.
‘Forest are playing well under Steve Cooper in the Championship too, and I am going with an upset here in front of a full house and the BBC cameras.’
He then adds a scoreline prediction of 1-1, with Forest to triumph on penalties after extra time.
There can be a temptation to always side with the higher ranked side as such when it comes to predictions, but Lawrenson hasn’t done that here.
Despite their patchy form, Leicester do certainly have a lot of quality in their ranks with the likes of James Maddison and Youri Tielemans capable of winning games on their own.
They should be fresh after a short break and let’s not forget that they are the current FA Cup holders, too.
But Forest do look dangerous and fearless under Cooper and it’s hard to see this one being anything other than an excellent cup tie.
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