English Premier
2025-10-18 - Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 18th October 2025 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV
Nottingham Forest
Despite only been appointed a little over a month, Ange Postecoglou is under incredible pressure as manager of Nottingham Forest. He had to be fearing the worst after yet another Premier League defeat ahead of the October international break, but Postecoglou is clinging onto his job and that despite reports that Nottingham Forest are considering moving for either Sean Dyche or Rafa Benitez to replace the Australian.
It has been as poor a start to his tenure as manager as Ange Postecoglou could have expected and Nottingham Forest are 17th in the Premier League table and only a single point ahead of Burnley and West Ham United. The latter are now being managed by Nuno Espirito Santo and it has been made clear to his replacement that he needs to start winning football matches immediately. The Tricky Trees have a 1-0-2 record at the City Ground in the Premier League where they have scored 3 goals, but conceded 5.
Nottingham Forest have not only failed to win any of the 7 games played under Postecoglou in all competitions, but they have lost 5 of those matches, including the last 3 in a row. Losses to Sunderland and Midtjylland have extended the run of defeats to 3 at the City Ground under two different managers.
Douglas Luiz is hoping to have used the international break to recover from his hamstring issue, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is expected to be available.
Chelsea
Managers are always one or two results away from being under some pressure and that has seemingly been the case for Enzo Maresca, although Chelsea have denied any rumours of a change in manager being sought. The win over Liverpool two weeks ago will have just calmed things down during this October international break, but Maresca will want his team to come out and build on that result immediately.
Securing the three points against the Champions has pushed Chelsea back up into 7th place in the Premier League table with 11 points secured so far this season. The Blues will travel to the East Midlands with a 1-1-1 away record in the top flight and Chelsea have scored 8 goals and conceded 5 in those matches.
Chelsea were beaten 1-3 by Brighton and reports had come out that board members had made their way into the home dressing room following that loss. Instead of any panic, Chelsea beat Benfica and Liverpool and that will have eased any sense of concern for those in upper management. Chelsea did beat Lincoln City away from home in the League Cup Third Round, but had previously drawn at Brentford and lost at Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
A huge injury list has made things difficult for Chelsea- Enzo Fernandez was sent home early from international duty and is a doubt, while Cole Palmer is set to miss the fixtures between the this international break and the one scheduled for mid-November. Reece James should be passed fit and Trevoh Chalobah is back from a suspension.
Head to Head
Chelsea took four points from Nottingham Forest last season and it was the three points secured at the City Ground on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign that secured Champions League Football and prevented The Tricky Trees from earning one of those coveted spots.
That fixture ended 0-1 in favour of Chelsea and they are now unbeaten in 4 visits to the City Ground.
3 of those 4 games have ended in Chelsea wins, including the last 2 in succession.
Prediction
An owner who has shown little patience in his time in Football is unlikely to be waiting too much longer for Ange Postecoglou to get things going as manager of Nottingham Forest.
Sacking Nuno Espirito Santo and appointing Postecoglou raised plenty of eyebrows in the stands and the results have really not backed that decision in any way, shape or form.
7 Nottingham Forest matches under the new manager have ended in 5 defeats and the time for excuses is already over. Some reports have suggested the hierarchy have already got managers in mind to take over if Nottingham Forest continue to slump from winless match to winless match.
It feels like Ange Postecoglou has been given a stay of execution and that makes this match hugely important.
He will be encouraged by some of the football played by Nottingham Forest, although fortune has been missing with the team lacking composure in the final third. Adding to the problems is that the defensive solidity that was seen last season has completely evaporated and Nottingham Forest have been conceding far too many goals.
Some will put all of the blame for that on Postecoglou's door, but Nottingham Forest had lost 0-3 at home in Nuno Espirito Santo's final game in charge. Since then, Nottingham Forest have conceded three goals against Arsenal, Swansea City and Midtjylland, which have all ended in defeats, and Real Betis and Newcastle United have scored twice against this team.
This all adds up to Chelsea being priced as an odds on favourite to win at the City Ground, but the visitors have hardly been in the most inspiring of form.
Wins over Benfica and Liverpool will have helped, but those were both played at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have simply not been as solid when travelling. Defeats at Bayern Munich and Manchester United cannot be easily ignored, while Chelsea were behind at Lincoln City in the League Cup Third Round and conceded late in a 2-2 draw at Brentford.
Cole Palmer's absence is a blow and they look short this weekend, even if Chelsea have won twice in a row at the City Ground.
You have to believe Chelsea will create chances and will be dangerous from set pieces, but Nottingham Forest have to be confident of having opportunities of their own.
Chelsea crushed West Ham United at the London Stadium, but they have found it much more challenging in away games played since then.
The first goal is going to be important- you'd worry for Ange Postecoglou if his team were to fall behind.
However, this is a team that have been capable of getting forward and challenging opponents and it just feels like Nottingham Forest can do enough to avoid a defeat against an opponent that have struggled for away goals since the five scored in East London.
The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea
