FA Cup | Third Round

Jan 11, 2025 at 3pm UK

The City Ground

Nott'm Forest vs Luton

Match preview

Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest team are on fire! They're on a six-game winning streak, and they're giving Premier League title contenders a run for their money.

Santo wasn't the only one from Garibaldi returning to face his old employers at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux base, where Morgan Gibbs-White responded to the home crowd's jeers with a seventh-minute opener before Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi made the scoreline more emphatic.

Forest have already hit the 40-point mark in the top flight this season and are only behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference, although runaway leaders Liverpool hold a six-point advantage at the summit with a game in hand.

It's looking like Champions League football at the City Ground is a distinct possibility for 2025-26, but in Forest's current fabulous form, Santo's men should not be washing their hands of the FA Cup, a tournament that the club last won in 1959 and last reached the final in back in 1991.

The Tricky Trees haven't won any of their last five FA Cup games at home, but that doesn't matter when you look at their six-game winning run and four matches in a row without conceding a goal.

Last season, Forest just missed out on staying up, while Luton were relegated to the second tier, and now the gap between the two teams in the English football pyramid is a whopping 38 places.

Instead of going straight back up to the big time, the visitors have their work cut out to avoid being demoted to League One for 2025-26. They're heading to the City Ground after a disappointing fourth straight defeat in the Championship.

After losing to Bristol City, Swansea City and Norwich City, the Hatters were beaten 2-1 by Queens Park Rangers on Monday at Loftus Road. This means they're now 20th in the table, with only two points ahead of 22nd-placed Hull City and 23rd-placed Cardiff City, who have a game in hand.

After reports that promotion-winning boss Edwards would be leaving his position in the wake of their most recent loss, Luton confirmed the 42-year-old's exit on Thursday afternoon with a heartfelt statement; CEO Gary Sweet said that Edwards achieved "legendary status" at Kenilworth Road.

The Hatters haven't lost at this stage of the FA Cup since the 2019-20 season, and they held Forest to two stalemates in the 2023-24 Premier League. This bodes well for the first game of the post-Edwards era.

Recent Performance

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):WWWWWW

Luton Town form (all competitions):LWLLLL

Team News

Forest's success in 2024-25 has been down to having a pretty empty treatment room for most of the campaign, and Santo is only expected to be missing long-term absentees Danilo (ankle) and Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) for Saturday's match with the Hatters.

The hosts will definitely be making changes, with Awoniyi set to lead the attack after scoring his first Premier League goal of the season at Molineux; Wood, who's bagged 12 goals, should get a well-deserved rest.

Santo might also be tempted to start gigantic goalkeeper Carlos Miguel, the 6ft 8in Brazilian who has only featured in the EFL Cup for the Tricky Trees so far, as well as fringe trio Willy Boly, James Ward-Prowse and Ramon Sosa.

Meanwhile, Luton have confirmed that Paul Trollope and Richie Kyle will be running the show on Saturday while they work to appoint a new permanent boss. The pair will be without Reece Burke (hip), Teden Mengi (knee), Alfie Doughty (knock), Shandon Baptiste (calf) and captain Tom Lockyer for the contest.

Tom was doing really well in his recovery from his cardiac arrest, but he got an ankle injury in training last month. The visitors didn't pick up any new concerns in their defeat to QPR, though.

Regular number nine Elijah Adebayo was benched for that match – only the third Championship game this season he hasn't started – but the 6ft 4in striker should be back in for Saturday's match, either in place of or alongside Carlton Morris.

Possible starting lineup

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Miguel; Aina, Boly, Morato, Moreno; Yates, Anderson; Jota, Ward-Prowse, Sosa; Awoniyi

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Krul; Anderson, Holmes, McGuinness; Hashioka, Mpanzu, Nakamba, Bell; Chong; Morris, Adebayo