Brighton vs Nottingham Forest FA Cup quarter-final
Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer believes Nottingham Forest will edge a tight FA Cup quarter-final contest against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Seagulls are one of four of the eight clubs to have reached this stage of the competition who have never won a major trophy – Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Fulham are the others.
The Seagulls are one of four of the eight clubs to have reached this stage of the competition who have never won a major trophy – Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Fulham are the others.
Most of the Premier League’s big-hitters having already been knocked out – only an under-performing Manchester City remain of the so-called ‘big six’ – leaving a sense this could be the year for a new name to be etched onto the famous old trophy.
At the start of February Chris Wood – who is injured for tomorrow’s fixture at the Amex Stadium – scored a hat-trick as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side inflicted a 7-0 Premier League thrashing on Brighton at the City Ground, their heaviest defeat in 67 years.
Brighton’s defenders will be relieved that Wood will miss Saturday’s match after sustaining a hip injury on international duty with New Zealand.
Wembley awaits for Saturday’s winners but Shearer believes Brighton cup run could end tomorrow to an impressive Nottingham Forest team.
“This is such a tough tie to call,” said Shearer, who saw Brighton knock out his former club Newcastle in the previous round.
“It really could go either way. I think the position Nottingham Forest are in, going for Champions League football and with the way they play, I’m going to go for Forest to get through.”
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler is confident Brighton can deliver another good FA Cup display. Hurzeler has guided Brighton to cup victories against Norwich City, Chelsea and Newcastle in the previous rounds but the German was in no mood to relive the 7-0 loss to Forest.
“I won’t discuss it,” Hurzeler said. “The players took a lot of ownership and a lot of responsibility and they said we have to go back to the things that made us strong and things that make us strong are working together, showing intensity and this belief that we can beat every team in the league.”
