Nottingham Forest vs. Luton Town: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

It's hard to see anything other than a Forest win here, regardless of who plays. Forest will likely ring the changes but they have some quality depth in their squad, and a team that's won five on the bounce in the Premier League, while conceding just once, should have far too much for a Luton side that's struggling massively in the Championship.

Luton have been especially poor away from home, where they've now lost ten in a row, so Forest should win this one without getting out of third gear. Nottingham Forest 2-0 Luton.

Nottingham Forest are hoping to bring their excellent league form into the FA Cup as they take on Luton Town in the third round.

• Date: 11/01/2025
• Kick-off time: 15:00
• Location: City Ground, Nottingham

Nottingham Forest are currently 3rd in the Premier League with 40 points from 20 games. The Tricky Trees come into this game on cloud nine, with the former giants of English football now aiming to work their way back into the Champions League. Forest have been the surprise package in the Premier League this season, and while their recent form may be tough to sustain for another four or five months, they’re now in a position to dream about things they would've been ridiculed for believing in only a few months back.

With just 19 goals conceded, Forest have the second-best defensive record in the league, and in Morgan Gibbes-White and Elliot Anderson, they have two of the best-performing midfielders in the league. Additionally, right-back Ola Aina has arguably been the best player in his position so far this season, while Chris Wood is flying high in the league’s goalscoring charts with 12 goals.

As Forest chase a top four finish, this competition might be further down their priority list, but such league-focussed tunnel vision might be quite naive, as a team as strong as Forest are this season would be considered serious contenders for this trophy.

Forest reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 2021-22, losing 1-0 to Liverpool, but that’s the only time they’ve gone beyond the fifth round since the 1996-97 season. The Tricky Trees are twice winners of this competition - in 1897-98 and 1958-59 - and having not won a major trophy since 1989-90, it feels as though their relative strength in English football this season should be an incentive to make a run at winning this one.

Luton Town are currently 20th in the Championship with 25 points from 26 games this season. To say this campaign has been a disappointment for Luton is an understatement, with Rob Edwards’ side having been one of the most underwhelming teams in the entire EFL. Fresh off the back of relegation from the Premier League, Luton were expected to make a strong playoff push at a minimum having kept the majority of their team together, but they’ve been nowhere near that level, and are currently amidst a relegation battle.

Luton are dangerously close to the relegation zone in the Championship, and as expected, manager Rob Edwards is under palpable pressure and is believed to be walking on very thin ice. Despite what Edwards has done for the club, patience amongst the fanbase has worn razor thin with the club desperate not become a mediocre EFL dweller once again, and while Edwards has been afforded a good amount of time to turn things around this season, progress has been non-existent.

Luton haven’t been beyond the fifth round of this competition since the 1993-94 season, and while they’ve undoubtedly got bigger priorities this season, a good cup run would do them no harm. A win against Premier League opposition could be the kind of season-defining moment they’ve been looking for and could act as a springboard to a sustained run of form. That, though, is quite unlikely, with the Hatters much more likely to make up the numbers here than compete for a result.

This game will not be televised live in the UK, but full radio coverage will be provided by BBC Radio Luton.

Nottingham Forest Team News:

Forest come into this game without Danilo and Ibrahim Sangaré, both of whom remain out injured.

Nuno Santo will likely make a host of changes for this game, with the likes of Morato, James Ward-Prowse, Jota Silva and Taiwo Awoniyi all likely to start.

Predicted lineup: Carlos Miguel; Williams, Morato, Boly, Moreno; Yates, Ward-Prowse; Elanga, Sosa, J. Silva; Awoniyi.

Luton Town Team News:

The Hatters have a fairly lengthy injury list, with Teden Mengi, Alfie Doughty, Reece Burke, Shandon Baptiste and Tom Lockyer all unavailable.

Rob Edwards could bring back a few experienced names after making some changes at Loftus Road on Monday night, with Jordan Clark, Tom Krauß and Elijah Adebayo all hoping for recalls to the starting XI.

Predicted lineup: Kaminski; Walters, McGuinness, Holmes, Bell; Clark, Krauß; Chong, Dabo, Brown; Adebayo.

Nottingham Forest:

Nottingham Forest come into this game in excellent form having won all of their last five games. On Monday night, the Tricky Trees surged to a resounding 3-0 win away at Wolves, with goals from Morgan Gibbs-White, Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi sealing a convincing victory.

Before that, Forest ran 2-0 winners away at Everton thanks to goals from Gibbs-White and Wood, which came after a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, courtesy of Anthony Elanga.

Those results followed a 2-0 win over Brentford, with the goals coming from Ola Aina and Elanga, and a 2-1 win over Aston Villa, thanks to Nikola Milenković and Elanga.

Luton Town:

Luton's form, by contrast, is fairly woeful, with the Hatters winning just one of their last five, losing their last four on the spin. Their latest outing saw them slump to a 2-1 loss away at QPR, where a Mark McGuinness equaliser on the stroke of half-time wasn't enough for a point in the end.

Prior to that, Luton lost 0-1 at home to Norwich City, a result that was preceded by a 2-1 loss way at Swansea City, with Swansea's winner coming in stoppage-time.

Those results were preceded by a 1-0 loss away at Bristol City and a 2-1 win over Derby County, where a pair of very late goals from Tom Holmes and Carlton Morris sealed a dramatic win.

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