Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town take a break from their Premier League promotion bid on Monday night with a showdown in the FA Cup fifth round.
While both clubs find themselves on unbeaten runs, Huddersfield have gone as many as 18 matches without suffering a defeat in all competitions.
At the start of the season, few people would have predicted that Forest and Huddersfield would be two of the form teams heading into March, particularly the Terriers after they narrowly avoided relegation in 2020-21.
However, since Steve Cooper was named as Forest head coach on September 21, these two sides are second and third respectively, with only runaway Championship leaders sitting ahead of them.
Overall, Huddersfield are second, having played several matches more than all of their rivals, and Forest are eighth, but the form table gives you an idea of the consistency that Cooper and Carlos Corberan have brought to their respective sides.
On Friday night, Huddersfield made light work of bottom-placed Peterborough United, prevailing by a 3-0 scoreline to record their four successive victory in the second tier.
The Yorkshire outfit now have nine wins and seven draws from their last 16 Championship outings, but there is still plenty of work ahead if they want to remain in contention for a return to the top flight.
Ahead of the weekend’s fixtures, seventh-placed Luton Town were eight points adrift with three matches remaining, and it keeps the pressure on Corberan and his squad ahead of a testing set of fixtures.
Forest were also in action on Friday night, overcoming the disappointment of a missed penalty to claim a last-gasp 1-1 draw at promotion rivals Sheffield United.
Cooper’s team remain as outsiders to secure a top-six position come the end of the season, but Ryan Yates’s late goal provides them with momentum ahead of attempting to set up a mouth-watering meeting with Liverpool.
The East Midlands outfit have already defeated Premier League opposition on two occasions this season, edging out Arsenal in the third round before a dominant 4-1 triumph over county rivals Leicester City in the last 32.
As for Huddersfield, they came from behind to beat Burnley at Turf Moor at the start of January, backing up that success with a narrow 1-0 win over Barnsley in the following round.
Nottingham Forest FA Cup form:
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Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):
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Huddersfield Town FA Cup form:
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Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):
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We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield have been superb for three months, making it difficult to back against them regardless of the opposition. However, we are going to do just that, with the City Ground atmosphere and the carrot of hosting Liverpool helping Forest to a victory at extra time