Nottingham Forest kick-start their EFL Cup campaign with a trip to Welsh side Swansea City, with Ange Postecoglou eyeing his first win.
Alan Sheehan’s Swansea City side have made a modest start to their new campaign, as they languish in seventh spot in the EFL Championship. There are some lofty objectives placed on the manager to achieve at least a playoff berth at the end of the campaign, but the Welsh side will also eye a good run in the cup competitions.
Unlike their next opponent, the Swans have had to negotiate two other rounds in the EFL Cup to reach this third-round clash with Nottingham Forest. At first, Swansea City comfortably defeated Crawley Town before being put to the test by Plymouth Argyle, with Sheehan’s side going through to the next phase with a penalty shootout win.
Ahead of their clash with Nottingham Forest, Swansea extended their unbeaten run to six games across all competitions. However, their performance against Hull City at the weekend will have left Sheehan a bit worried after the Tigers scored a late equaliser to steal a point. Hence, the Swansea manager will want a top-notch display against a Premier League opposition and manage through the difficulties of this tie.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest and their decision to install Ange Postecoglou as their new manager grabbed all the headlines heading into last weekend. The venue itself was fitting for the Australian to make his return to managing a Premier League side as the Tricky Trees went away to his former side Tottenham’s arch rivals, Arsenal.
The game itself did not go as some supporting Nottingham Forest would have wanted, as the Gunners were superior in every aspect and won the game with a 3-0 scoreline. There are elements like a lack of time to stamp his authority, but Postecoglou will want to secure his first win as Forest’s new boss in the EFL Cup, albeit in what could be another tricky away fixture.
Nottingham Forest have lofty ambitions as a club and wants to achieve unprecedented success that trumps what they did last season. That would certainly involve a deep run into the cup competitions, as beating Swansea City would be the first big step for Postecoglou in that regard.
Team News & Tactics
Swansea City
Alan Sheehan may have to maneuver through a few injury issues in his squad, as key defender Ricardo Santos continues to be sidelined with a knee problem, but his recovery is very much on track. Furthermore, Marko Stamenic and Jay Fulton are also out with groin issues.
Andy Fisher will hope he retains his spot between the sticks ahead of Lawrence Vigouroux, as he did feature in the first two games of the EFL Cup. Sheehan will want to keep some of his key stars fresh, meaning there could be some level of experimentation with Sam Parker, Melker Widell, Eom Ji-sung, and Liam Cullen all vying for a starting spot.
Widell will assume a place in the midfield setup alongside Ethan Galbraith. Meanwhile, Cullen will come into the attacking midfield spot, with Ronald and Eom on either side. Zan Vipotnik will lead the line for Swansea from the No.9 role.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1) – Fisher; Parker, Cabango, Burgess, Tymon; Galbraith, Widell; Ronald, Cullen, Eom; Vipotnik
Nottingham Forest
Ange Postecoglou will be expected to ring the changes to make use of a big squad at his disposal. Nicolas Dominguez and Ola Aina are the only two absentees for the time being, with the latter set to miss out a few months of action with a serious hamstring problem sustained during the international break. There are some concerns surrounding Murillo after coming off against Arsenal.
Postecoglou is unlikely to risk the defender for the cup clash, although Nikola Milenkovic might feature alongside Morato, loan arrival Oleksandr Zinchenko and Nicola Savona, which will be reminiscent of the back four that finished the game at Arsenal. The big debut will be for Douglas Luiz, who has been the big topic discussed in the aftermath of Nuno Espirito Santo’s departure.
The Brazilian could be joined by the likes of Zinchenko, John Victor, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Dilane Bakwa, and James McAtee in making their full debuts for the team. Postecoglou will otherwise retain some other stars like Eliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Victor; Savona, Milenkovic, Morato, Zinchenko; Luiz, Anderson; Bakwa, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Kalimuendo
Key Stats
Swansea City extended their unbeaten run to six games across all competitions.
Swansea City are looking to advance into the fourth round for the first time in eight years.
Nottingham Forest have scored nine goals in their last two meetings with Swansea City.
Nottingham Forest have not won the EFL Cup since 1989/90.
Player to Watch
Douglas Luiz
Embed from Getty Images
As mentioned earlier, Luiz was a big talking point in the days leading towards and after the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo. It appears the former boss may not have wanted the experienced Brazilian midfielder, formerly of Aston Villa and Juventus, whom the club wanted.
With that topic out of the way and Luiz now in contention to make his debut for Forest, it is about putting in a performance that gets him into Ange Postecoglou’s thinking for the weekend and beyond. Luiz certainly has the quality and experience to be a big player for Forest this season, and it is all about showing that on the pitch on Wednesday.
Prediction
Swansea City 1-3 Nottingham Forest
Swansea City are in a decent vein of form heading into the EFL Cup third round, but they may struggle for relevance against a top-flight side. While one cannot discount their chances of going through to the next round, facing this Nottingham Forest side may prove to be the end of their journey in this competition.
As for Notitngham Forest, Ange Postecoglou might use this game as a platform to experiment with his ideas on this squad. One might assume the visitors will play an attacking style the Australian likes so much, and considering the level of the opposition, Forest may get their way.
The Tricky Trees are the overwhelming favourites to move into the fourth round with a big victory in Wales. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-1 win for Ange Postecoglou and his charges, taking them into the EFL Cup fourth round.