All but one of the FA Cup fifth round matches have now taken place over this past weekend, with teams such as Burnley, Manchester United and Newcastle all exiting the cup at the hands of underdogs. Preston, Fulham and Brighton won their respective matches against the favourites and will now go on to the quarter finals along with Manchester City, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
Tonight, they will be joined by either Nottingham Forest or Ipswich Town, an all-Premier-League tie which could again throw an upset in the works.
A wobbling Nottingham Forest have not had fortune on their side recently, with one win in their last five Premier League games, albeit a 7-0 battering of potential opponents Brighton. They will be hoping to turn this luck around as fellow Premier League team Ipswich visit the City Ground. The tractor boys have found it difficult in their first season back in the top flight since 2002, picking up only 17 points so far in the league and looking like heavy favourites for relegation come the end of the season. Things do, however, seem to be improving for Ipswich as they progressed convincingly in the 4th round against Coventry, and recently picked up a point against a strong Aston Villa side. They also showed a lot of fight and quality against a 10-man Manchester United side, who eventually escaped with the win.
Tonight’s affair between the two teams should be a close game, with Ipswich looking to take the game to a Forest side who have not had their usual quality for the past few weeks. Although Forest will still be favourites, they should not underestimate an Ipswich side whose fortunes seem to be slowly turning, and a win tonight could be the catalyst for the Tractor Boys potentially escaping the drop.
The prediction from TUXtra is a 3-1 win for Nottingham Forest, completing the quarter finals for this season’s FA Cup.
