ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PREVIEW - NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS LEEDS UNITED

English Premier

2026-08-22 - Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Nottingham Forest v Leeds United
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 22nd August 2026 - Kick Off 3pm

---

Nottingham Forest

Oliver Glasner was working for a patient board at Crystal Palace and that ultimately led to him taking the club to the first major trophies in history in the FA Cup and Conference League. Those successes saw Glasner linked to roles at some of the big names of European Football, but it is Nottingham Forest that offer him his next stop and both manager and club are hoping they have similar ambitions.

It looks a good appointment for Nottingham Forest and the hope for the fans is that Oliver Glasner can offer them a settled period having gone through four different managers last season. Eventually the board got the appointment right and The Tricky Trees finished 16th in the Premier League table, but there are greater ambitions set out by owner Evangelos Marinakis and that involves a return to European Football.

Nottingham Forest failed to win any of the last 4 games in all competitions, which included a Europa League Semi Final defeat to Aston Villa. They did conclude the campaign unbeaten in 7 at the City Ground in all competitions, but Nottingham Forest were also held to draws in 4 of the last 5 Premier League games here.

Interesting moves have been made in the transfer window, but the new manager is hoping more incomings will arrive before the close. Elliot Anderson was sold for a huge fee, which may be making things difficult, and so it looks like Nottingham Forest will go into this opening fixture with the current group of players except Ryan Yates.

Leeds United

Daniel Farke would have seen reports that the Leeds United board were considering making a change before the Premier League return campaign began twelve months ago. He was then under considerable pressure from the fans in early December, but a tactical switch at half time at the Etihad Stadium was a pivotal moment and both manager and Leeds United Football Club did not look back.

They finished 14th in the Premier League table, but the second half form was considerably better than the first half and Farke asked for backing from the board after overseeing Leeds United's best finish since 2021. In the main the board have done that by providing decent funds to bring in players that should be very important for Leeds United over the months ahead.

Leeds United had lost 1 of the previous 12 games in all competitions before being thumped 3-0 at West Ham United on the last day of the season. That loss at the London Stadium also ended Leeds United's 10 game unbeaten run on their travels.

Lucas Perri played a number of games for Leeds United as the first choice goalkeeper last season, but James Trafford takes over that role and Perri is set to depart. Ilia Gruev is a doubt and Gabriel Gudmundsson is expected to miss out.

Head to Head

Both Premier League fixtures were won by the home team by the same 3-1 scoreline last season.

Nottingham Forest have beaten Leeds United 4 times in a row at the City Ground.

Prediction

Any time a new manager takes over a club, there is always going to be some uncertainty as to how players will respond.

You do have to believe Nottingham Forest's squad will have a lot of respect for the work Oliver Glasner did at Crystal Palace and how much success he was able to provide for that squad. Most of the Nottingham Forest squad have to believe they have superior players than Crystal Palace and they do have a number of personnel that could thrive in the expected Glasner system.

Last season was a campaign of underachievement for Nottingham Forest and they will be looking to take advantage of no European Football. That should give them ample time to prepare fully for fixtures and The Tricky Trees look like a team that can compete much higher in the standings than last season.

The same can be said for Leeds United who have done some solid summer business and who have found a very good system to get the best out of this squad under Daniel Farke.

Both managers may yet be looking for more additions but they will also be pretty happy with those that are already available and this could be one of the more entertaining games of the weekend.

The two League fixtures between Nottingham Forest and Leeds United both ended 3-1 in favour of the home team last season, although the Oliver Glasner led Crystal Palace held Leeds United to a goalless draw having been beaten handily at Elland Road.

Goals look likely again with the talented attacking players that are available and the biggest threat to that looks to be a 1-1 draw.

The Pick :

Nottingham Forest 2-1 Leeds United

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.94 with Cloudbet