(Football news) The Magpies, who lost to the Tricky Trees 3-1 on Boxing Day of last year at St. James’ Park, will be looking for retribution. Nottingham Forest defeated Bristol City on home ground in a replay on Wednesday night, needing a penalty shootout after the Championship team held them to a goalless draw in the FA Cup fourth round twelve days earlier. The match began with a 1-1 tie in 120 minutes.
After Divock Origi’s close-range effort eight minutes in was cancelled out by Jason Knight just six minutes later, Forest eventually won 5-3 on penalties to set up a fifth-round home match against Manchester United. The match saw both teams miss several decent chances.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have now failed to win any of their last seven matches in 90 minutes across all competitions, including each of their last three in the Premier League where they currently sit 16th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone.
Forest transformed the City Ground into somewhat of a fortress when they returned to the top flight last season, but they have had less success in front of their own fans this term and enter Saturday’s fixture on the back of five defeats in their last six home league matches, conceding 12 goals in the process.
The Tricky Trees can take confidence from their display in the aforementioned win at St James’ Park less than two months ago, and with challenging encounters against West Ham United, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion on the horizon, Nuno’s side will be keen to claim three more points against Newcastle to boost their survival hopes as well as complete their first league double over the Magpies since 1977-78.
After winning three of their four games in January, Newcastle looked to have turned the corner after a challenging run of play over the Christmas break. However, last weekend’s thrilling 4–4 draw at St James’ Park prevented the Magpies from winning three straight games.
Luton took a 4-2 lead thanks to goals from Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo in the space of three minutes in the second half, after goals from Sean Longstaff and Gabriel Osho and Ross Barkley had canceled each other out in the first half. But goals from Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes allowed the Magpies to salvage a point.
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