Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United: Preview and Prediction

Two bottom-half clubs from last season will be eager to kick-start their Premier League campaigns strongly when Nottingham Forest and Leeds United clash at the City Ground on Saturday.

Premier League football finally returns this week with Gameweek 1 of the 2026/27 season. The action on Saturday begins with the match between Hull City and Manchester United at the MKM Stadium before continuing with three simultaneous games, including Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest will embark on a new phase in the Premier League after appointing Oliver Glasner as the new head coach. However, the Tricky Trees have not been highly active in the market, signing Steven Benda, Ousmane Diomande, and Xaver Schlager. Meanwhile, Elliot Anderson has been the most notable departure, with the Englishman joining Manchester City.

Glasner’s men have been impressive during their pre-season campaign, winning five of their nine outings. The busy campaign has given the Nottingham Forest players the opportunity to get accustomed to the Austrian tactician’s system, and they approach the new season in impressive form.

On the other hand, Leeds United’s progress under Daniel Farke has continued during the off-season. The Whites have been impressive in their pre-season campaign, losing only one of their six games while clinching four wins (D1). They have also been active in the market, signing Harry Wilson, James Trafford, Tarik Muharemovic, and Nico Elvedi to upgrade their squad.

The corresponding fixture last season saw Nottingham Forest come from a goal down to beat Leeds United 3-1, with Ibrahim Sangare, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Elliot Anderson finding the back of the net. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Nottingham Forest

Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Sels; Diomande, Milenkovic, Murillo; Aina, Schlager, Sangare, Neco Williams; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Jesus

Leeds United

Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Trafford; Rodon, Bijol, Muharemovic; Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Justin; Wilson, Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson

Key Stats

• Nottingham Forest have won their last four home league games against Leeds United, while in the top-flight they are unbeaten in 14 against the Whites at the City Ground (W7 D7) since losing 2-0 in 1971/72. Meanwhile, Leeds have only faced Nottingham Forest in their opening league game of the season once before; they won 1-0 in 1991/92 under Howard Wilkinson, winning the top-flight title that campaign.
• Nottingham Forest beat Brentford 3-1 in Gameweek 1 in the 2025/26 season, last winning their opening league game in consecutive seasons in 2016/17 and 2017/18 in the EFL Championship.
• Leeds United have lost their opening game in just two of their last 18 top-flight seasons (W9 D7), losing to Liverpool in 2020/21 and Manchester United in 2021/22.
• Only Liverpool (-24) and Wolves (-22) saw a bigger decrease in their final points total between the 2024/25 and 2025/26 Premier League seasons than Nottingham Forest (-21, 65 to 44); however, only four sides won more points across their final 10 top-flight games last term than the Tricky Trees (17).
• Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored 14 Premier League goals last season, his second-most in a top-flight campaign after 16 in 2020/21. The English striker contested the most aerial duels in the competition last term (317) and made the fourth most runs in behind the opponent’s defensive line (347).

Player to Watch

Harry Wilson

While Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Igor Jesus, and Morgan Gibbs-White were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Harry Wilson as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Nottingham Forest and Leeds United at the City Ground.

The Welsh international was directly involved in 17 Premier League goals last season (10 goals, 7 assists), with only eight players registering more. Meanwhile, only Antoine Semenyo (+5.9) and Junior Kroupi (+4.7) exceeded their xG tally by more than the Welshman (+4.2) in 2025/26. His addition should transform Leeds United, and he will be Daniel Farke’s go-to player in the final third this weekend.

Prediction

Nottingham Forest 2-2 Leeds United

Only Wolves (6) and Burnley (9) won fewer away points in the 2025-26 Premier League than Leeds United (15). Despite that, the Whites lost only two of their final 12 on the road (W1 D9) and drew the joint-most away matches across Europe’s big five leagues last term (9 – level with Real Betis).