Both of these clubs have spent a few years in the Premier League but currently find themselves struggling to keep themselves in the second tier of English football.

While Forest have not eaten off the top table for 12 years, Birmingham were a top-fight club just last season and qualified for Europe by beating Arsenal in the final of the Carling Cup.

But it may well be that winning the Carling Cup sealed their fate as a Premier League side as they were unable to replicate that form during the run-in to the end of the season and were relegated into the Championship.

And so Chris Hughton has to deal with the twin tasks of trying to get the club back into the Premier League and taking his men on European journeys in mid-week (Birmingham 100/1 Europa League Outright).

Whether or not the Europa League has taken its toll is open to debate but the Blues have won just two Championship games all season and have been beaten on three out of four occasions they have ventured away from St Andrews.

And so it is not looking good for Hughton as he takes his men the short distance to Nottingham, although he has been boosted with the news that defenders Curtis Davies and Stephen Carr should be fit to play as their injuries were not as serious as first thought.

Confidence was low after the 4-1 trashing at the hands of Southampton but a draw with Barnsley and the mid-week European victory at NK Maribor will have given the players a shot in the arm and the belief that they might be able to cure their away-day blues domestically as well.

And what better time to play a Forest side who are still trying to come to terms with their mid-week mauling at the hands of Burnley?

Steve McLaren’s job was already coming under pressure before the 5-1 defeat and a home loss to the Blues might be the end of the line for the former England chief.

He has been critical of the lack of investment in new players and it is clear that his men are struggling to compete in the Championship with just two points from a possible 12 at home and two victories on the road.

The Clarets’ defeat might turn out to be a watershed in the season for Forest but it remains to be seen whether McLaren wields the axe following the debacle.

But he does not have too many options with a lengthy injury list as Paul Anderson, George Boateng, Garath McCleary, Chris Cohen and Dexter Blackstock are all currently sidelined.

Having blotted his copybook with England, the former Middlesbrough boss regained some respect in Holland and, following his departure from Wolfsburg, it was thought that he might be able to re-establish himself in English football.

It has not quite worked out that way yet but it will be the mark of a top-class manager if he can achieve success at the famous club on a shoestring budget.

A glance at what David Moyes has achieved at Everton proves that it can be done and McLaren needs to get his head down and just work with what he has got.

McLaren’s men did beat Watford prior to the Burnley result and they will need a repeat performance to take all three points from this one.

But with Forest unable to win at home and Birmingham winless on the road, the smart money will be on a low-scoring draw in this one

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Tomas Rosicky put Arsenal ahead early in the second half but Orient managed to earn a replay at the Emirates after substitute Jonathan Tehoue grabbed an 89th-minute equaliser.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made a number of changes to the side that beat Barcelona on Wednesday and the Gunners could not manage to break Orient’s resistance, with Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh in particular guilty of wasting some decent chances. Despite being held by the minnows, the Gunners should be too strong for the League One side in the replay at the Emirates and a huge Sixth Round game at Old Trafford still surely beckons (Arsenal 18/5 to win the FA Cup).

Manchester City destroyed League One side Notts County 5-0 in their fourth round replay and will now take on Aston Villa in the fifth round. The winner of City and Villa will face either Everton, who knocked holders Chelsea out of the competition on penalties on Saturday, or Championship side Reading.

Stoke booked their spot in the quarter-finals with a straightforward 3-0 victory over Brighton at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.  The Potters will face either West Ham or Burnley, who face each other in the fifth round on Monday night (match betting – West Ham 10/11, draw 5/2, Burnley 3/1).

Bolton grabbed a 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, after seeing off Wigan 1-0 in the fourth round in midweek, and Ivan Klasnic was the Wanderers hero yet again with a first-half strike.  Klasnic has seen his opportunities limited this season with Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies ahead of him in the pecking order, while the arrival of Daniel Sturridge on loan from Chelsea has hampered his chances of Premier League football.

However, the Croatian has now grabbed two goals in two games and will have given boss Owen Coyle food for thought ahead of next weekend’s trip to Newcastle. The Wanderers will travel to Birmingham in the quarter-finals after the Blues proved too strong for League One strugglers Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew’s on Saturday, securing a 3-0 win over the Owls.

Full Quarter-Final Draw (all odds – FA Cup outright):

Stoke City (11/1) V West Ham United (28/1) or Burnley (80/1)

Manchester City (7/2) or Aston Villa (18/1) V Everton (7/1) or Reading (150/1)

Birmingham City (11/1) V Bolton Wanderers (14/1)

Manchester United V Leyton Orient (750/1) or Arsenal.

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

South Africa

The Bafana Bafana opened their Group A campaign on Friday with an encouraging 1-1 draw against Mexico at Soccer City. After a disappointing first-half performance, left winger Siphiwe Tshabalala put the hosts ahead on the hour with a fearsome left-footed strike. The goal appeared to spur on the hosts and South Africa started to gain more of a foothold in the match.

However, the Mexicans hit back through a Rafael Marquez goal 12 minutes from time but the South Africans came agonisingly close to stealing it when Katlego Mphela’s (200-1 Top Goalscorer) strike struck the post in the final seconds.

Despite the disappointment of the draw, Parreira remained upbeat about his side’s chances of making it through to the last 16.

“We could easily have won the game, but all in all a draw was a fair result,” said Brazilian Parreira. “We are still in the competition. This group is very tough.”

Parreira, who is coaching at his sixth World Cup, including coaching his native Brazil to victory in 1994, says his team initially froze under the pressure of being hosts as they were totally outplayed by the Mexicans in the first half and struggled with the expectations of their nation.

However, he says he was pleased by how his side adapted to the situation and did well to fight back well to put in a creditable performance in the second coming close to making a winning start to their campaign.

“The opening game is always a lot of pressure and today was no different,” the Brazilian said.

“Most of our team are a home-based team, players who are not used to this big environment, and we tried hard to adapt to this ambience, but after 15 minutes we started playing our game, putting the ball on the ground.”

Parrerira says the draw puts the South Africans in an ideal position to qualify from their group which also includes former winners France and Uruguay. No host nation has ever failed to qualify from the group stages and the Bafana Bafana coach is confident his side will not be the first and has pinpointed the final group game against France as the key match that will hopefully see them qualify for the knockout stages.

He added: “This group will be decided in the last game against France.”

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

The World Player of the Year would relish the chance to play the Three Lions key player on the biggest stage.

Messi has had an excellent season with Barca, scoring 47 goals in 53 appearances, and wants to transfer his good form to the international scene.

England are high up on the list of teams the 22-year-old would like to face at this summer’s tournament in South Africa and Rooney is the type of player he wants compete against.

He said: “It would be great to play against Rooney, although I don’t think I would see much of him because we mostly play at opposite ends of the pitch.

“For me, England have a good balance. They look very dangerous when Peter Crouch  plays with Rooney up front. I like Steven Gerrard  and Frank Lampard,  too, but Rooney will be the key.

“It would be good to play against him in South Africa  – preferably in the final, if that is possible,” he added.

Messi is currently preparing for the World Cup with the Argentina squad before their first match of the competition against Nigeria on June 12, the same day England face the USA (England 4/9, draw 3/1, USA 6/1).

The last time Argentina lifted the World Cup trophy was in Mexico in 1986 when they beat England in the quarter-finals thanks to the infamous ‘hand of God’ goal by Diego Maradona.

Messi has been referred to as the next Maradona and will be hoping to beat the English, like his predecessor, if the teams play.

The playmaker has revealed his admiration for the England players and the Premier League.

He said:  “I know there is a lot of history between England and Argentina, but I also know our players admire the English game.

“Mentally they are strong, and they have good quality players. Capello has made them strong, I have seen them play many times on TV and I have been impressed with England.

Messi also believes that Spain, Brazil and Italy all have good chances of winning the final which takes place in Johannesburg on July 11.

Bet on the World Cup and get £200. Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Although Inter Milan and AS Roma are both in the race to lift this season’s Scudetto they are both likely to win comfortably at home on Sunday. The match that carries the most significance for the winners on Sunday will be the clash between 4th placed Sampdoria and 5th placed Palermo.

The winner of this match will only have to win their final game of the season to be guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League and with the millions of pounds of revenue it generates it will be a great achievement for either of these two clubs.

Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini has described the clash as more of a “final” than a league game.

Pazzini said: “It will be ‘the game’, a real final. We have a little advantage thanks to the two extra points in the table, but if we were to play for a draw we would make a bad impression.

“For this reason we will go to Palermo and try and win.”
Sampdoria has won every one of their last 5 games and is the form team in Serie A at the moment.

Palermo boast one of the leagues best strikers in Fabrizio Miccoli who is the third highest scorer in Serie A with Sampdoria’s Giampaolo Pazzini being 4th.

The two sides are very evenly matched and a very tight affair should be expected on Sunday. There may well be only a couple of goals in it so the under 2.5 market at 1.90 looks a good bet.

Sampdoria have shown how good they are with a recent win away to league chasing Roma and they will be able to wrap up fourth place this Sunday as well. Back a 1-0 win for Sampdoria at 8.00 with PartyBets.com.

Related posts:

1. Roma face tough Sampdoria Serie A Title Test
2. Can Inter Milan win Coppa D’italia, Serie A + Champions League treble?
3. Genoa Close Gap on Sampdoria with 3-0 Win

ToteSport bookmaker will give you £60 in Free Bets. Click here to check them out.