Sixth place Blackburn Rovers prepare for the visit of struggling Nottingham Forest this weekend – the first of their seven Championship fixtures in the space of 21 days.
The trip to Rovers will be Chris Hughton's first game in charge of Forest, and he will be attempting to secure their first points of the season after a woeful start.
Match preview
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Tony Mowbray's Blackburn side have only conceded once in the league so far, but goals at the other end of the pitch have not been a problem, having already put Derby County and Wycombe Wanderers to the sword, winning four and five-nil respectively.
However, it has to be said that those two impressive wins have been book-ended with average performances away to Bournemouth and then at home to ten-man Cardiff, where they failed to pass the eye-test on both occasions.
Mowbray will be looking for more consistency from his side over the coming weeks, and with one eye on the transfer market, new recruits might be the solution.
Defender Barry Douglas looks likely to join the Lancashire club before the deadline passes. However, they could turn their attention to Leicester City's Luke Thomas if they are unable to complete a deal for the Leeds United left-back.
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Hughton arrived at the City Ground just over a week ago, having replaced Sabri Lamouchi at the helm after a very poor start to the 2020-21 campaign
Hughton, 61, becomes Forest's sixth manager in the space of four years, and he will be hoping to deliver promotion for a club that so narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season.
It is no secret that Forest are looking to add to their squad before the transfer window closes, with the Reds currently sitting 22nd in the Championship table, after not picking up a single point in their opening four matches of the season.
It is understood that Hughton has registered interest in Fulham's Anthony Knockaert and Liverpool midfielder Harry Wilson, two signings that would be greeted with open arms by the Forest faithful.
Blackburn Rovers Championship form: LWWD
Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions): LLWWD
Nottingham Forest Championship form: LLLL
Nottingham Forest form (all competitions): LLLLL
Team News
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Rovers will welcome back Thomas Kaminski and Corry Evans to the fold on Friday after their respective spells away on international duty, though Derrick Williams is set to miss the Forest fixture after withdrawing from the Republic of Ireland squad on Sunday.
Darragh Lenihan missed the 0-0 draw with Cardiff City with a groin problem picked up in training on the eve of the game, but is expected to return to the starting lineup.
Hughton has seemingly inherited a squad with a clean bill of health but will need to decide whether Lyle Taylor will get the nod ahead of Lewis Grabban.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Nyambe, Lenihan, Ayala, Bell; Johnson, Holtby, Rothwell; Dolan, Armstrong, Brereton
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Christie, Soh, McKenna, Blackett; Sow, Colback, Arter; Lolley, Grabban, Ameobi
We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Nottingham Forest
This will undoubtedly be a tough opening game for Chris Hughton, who will need time to put his stamp on the team and get them playing the way he wants. Though we see Forest improving in the coming weeks, we expect this fixture - against a free-flowing Blackburn side - to be too tall an order for Hughton's men.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 52.43%. A draw had a probability of 24.6% and a win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 22.96%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.63%) and 2-1 (9.6%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.7%), while for a Nottingham Forest win it was 0-1 (7.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.1% likelihood.
