English Premier
2025-08-17 - Nottingham Forest vs Brentford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 17th August 2025 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Nottingham Forest
For a long time, it felt like Nottingham Forest were on course to play in the Champions League, the premier European competition, for the first time since the early 1980s. Late form deserted them though and Nuno Espirito Santo's team were set for a place in the Conference League Play Off Round until Crystal Palace's failure to comply with UEFA regulations.
That means it is Nottingham Forest who benefit by moving up into the Europa League Group Stage and fans have to be really excited about what could lie ahead in a competition that featured two English Finalists in May. The Tricky Trees have bigger expectations to meet this season after finishing 7th in the Premier League table and 1 point from the Champions League spots. Improving on that position will mean having to improve the 9-5-5 record that was compiled at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest won 2 of their last 9 games in all competitions and that included losing in the FA Cup Semi Final and slipping out of the top five in the Premier League table. Failure to win any of their last 4 home League games and earning a single point in that time proved costly for Nuno Espirito Santo's men.
Anthony Elanga was sold to Newcastle United, but Nottingham Forest refused to let Morgan Gibbs-White leave for Tottenham Hotspur having threatened legal action before the English international extended his contract. Nicolas Dominguez is set to miss out on the opener, but Igor Jesus could make his debut having impressed at the Club World Cup with Botafogo.
Brentford
This is going to be the fifth season in a row that Brentford have spent in the Premier League and they have never really looked in danger of relegation previously. The club is well run and replaced key players that have departed in the past, most notably Ivan Toney, but this season feels full of more uncertainty after manager Thomas Frank left for Tottenham Hotspur.
Keith Andrews has been the surprising appointment and there will be plenty of pressure on him considering this is the first managerial role the Irishman has taken on. He has worked here under Thomas Frank, which will help, but Brentford have lost Bryan Mbeumo and are under pressure to retain Yoane Wissa, and that is going to be a real issue.
Brentford were fighting it out for a spot in Europe until the final month of the Premier League season and the 10th place finish is the second top half finish in three seasons. The side only lost 1 of their last 8 Premier League fixtures under Thomas Frank, but the changes made in the off-season could be a potential problem for this squad. Brentford were unbeaten in 4 away League games to conclude the last campaign and won half of those matches.
Vitaly Janelt is set to miss out, but Keith Andrews will be hoping that new signing Caoimhin Kelleher is available. Jordan Henderson could make his debut this weekend, while both Ethan Pinnock and Kevin Schade are hoping to travel.
Head to Head
Both Premier League fixtures between these clubs ended in 0-2 wins for the away team last season.
Nottingham Forest have not won any of their last 4 home games against The Bees.
Prediction
There have to be some question marks about both Nottingham Forest and Brentford going into the new season.
For the home team, a return to European Football would have been seen as a big success if you had offered that to any supporter twelve months ago. That was merely a couple of months after Nottingham Forest had narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship, but expectations were raised through the course of the campaign with Nottingham Forest spending a lot of time in the top four.
Late season form saw them struggle and Nuno Espirito Santo's team have since lost Anthony Elanga, while pre-season form has not exactly been encouraging.
Some may feel Nottingham Forest were 'found out' towards the end of the season and they also have to deal with the burden of additional football matches having been handed Crystal Palace's place in the Europa League Group Stage. That means eight guaranteed games between September and January and the squad is perhaps lacking some depth, which needs to be rectified.
Even then, Nottingham Forest are pretty strong favourites to open the season with a victory over a Brentford team that have endured much bigger changes than most.
Losing Thomas Frank to Tottenham Hotspur is a massive blow considering the fine work the Dane has put in and replacing him with Keith Andrews feels like a gamble. The latter has not managed at this kind of level and that inexperience could be a problem, especially if Yoane Wissa follows Bryan Mbeumo out of the door at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Jordan Henderson's arrival will help, but Brentford may lack the same potency in the final third and that will put pressure on the entire team.
Keith Andrews was the set piece coach at Brentford last season and dead ball situations were exploited by the team throughout the campaign. This looks like being a key for Brentford again, but it may take some time to get used to the new voice in the dressing room and for players to step up and replace the goals of Mbeumo and, potentially, Wissa.
The latter is not expected to be available on Sunday as he continues to push for a move away and it may see Nottingham Forest produce a result that was very familiar to them last season.
More than half of the 9 wins Nottingham Forest produced at the City Ground ended 1-0 and there is every chance that is going to be the outcome of this one between two teams that may feel they have plenty to prove in the months ahead.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Brentford
