Nottingham Forest's Championship clash with Bournemouth on Tuesday night is "as big as" Liverpool's second leg Champions League semi-final meeting with Villareal, which kicks off an hour later, according to Simon Jordan.
The penultimate game of the season is the most important one for both sides, with automatic promotion on the line. The winner going into the final weekend with the clear advantage in the race for second place.
A win for the Reds would put them on 82 points, level with the Cherries in the standings. But they would go ahead of the Cherries in the Championship table on goal difference and be in the driving seat for their final match of the campaign away at Hull City.
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With so much on the line at Dean Court, Jordan has likened the encounter to going to Wembley for a play-off final. Having been impressed by their performances against Swansea City and West Brom, he's backing Steve Cooper's men to get the job done against a team "under huge pressure" to deliver.
“This is the equivalent to a play-off final for Nottingham Forest. This is a huge game," the former Crystal Palace chairman told talkSPORT. "Right now, if you’re looking at the balance of form, Scott Parker is under huge pressure.
“He walked away from Fulham to manage Bournemouth and if Bournemouth don’t win promotion then that can’t be seen as a success for him because Fulham have been promoted.
“On the balance of form, Nottingham Forest are going into it absolutely flying and the pressure is on Bournemouth because they’re in the box seat. They’re the ones who have control of their own destiny right now and that destiny can be taken away from them by Nottingham Forest.
“I can’t see past a Forest win, but that’s because I can’t see past what happened against Swansea. I thought there’d be a situation where, going back to his old club, Steve Cooper would go back and it would be one of those twists of irony, but they smashed them to pieces, they smashed West Bromwich Albion to pieces.
“They are in such a vein of form that this is going to be one hell of a game; as big as another game that is being played tonight."
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That last statement may raise a few eyebrows, as he is referring to Liverpool's last four meeting with Villareal in the Champions League. The Merseyside outfit simply have to not lose and they will be in the final of the competition for the third time in five seasons. Despite the fact that Liverpool are gunning for a quadruple, Jordan says he will be tuning in to watch Forest take on Bournemouth instead of the European contest.
“I’d rather watch Bournemouth versus Nottingham Forest than Villareal versus Liverpool,” he insisted. “That’s how big a game it is for English football.”
You can't argue with that.
