English Premier

2026-02-06 - Leeds United vs Nottingham Forest

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Leeds United v Nottingham Forest
Football: English Premier League
Friday 6th February 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Leeds United

No one is going to be upset about losing a home game against the current Premier League leaders, but Daniel Farke will have been expecting his Leeds United team to be a lot more competitive than they proved to be in the 0-4 defeat to Arsenal. The manager will be demanding a much stronger level from all ahead of this very important League game as Leeds United look to put some distance between themselves and the relegation rivals behind them.

After results this past weekend, Leeds United remain in 16th place in the Premier League table and 6 points clear of West Ham United, although they will be very grateful to Chelsea for coming from 0-2 down to beat the 18th placed team on Saturday. Everyone knows the importance of home form in relation to any survival bid and Leeds United have a 5-4-3 record at Elland Road in the top flight.

Leeds United had been unbeaten in 3 games in all competitions before the thumping home defeat to Arsenal, while they had been unbeaten in 5 home Premier League games before that loss. During that run, Leeds United had picked up 11 points from a possible 15 and so should not have lost all confidence in front of the home fans.

Jaka Bijol and Lucas Nmecha are both hoping to be available for selection, while Daniel James is back in training and could play some part.

Nottingham Forest

Every point is beginning to matter in the Premier League and Nottingham Forest may see the draw with Crystal Palace as one gained, rather than two lost, considering the team played with ten men for the entirety of the second half. Sean Dyche will see that as an important point on a weekend where West Ham United were beaten, but there is still considerable work to do in order to produce a season the owner will be happy with.

They have now joined Leeds United in moving 6 points clear of the bottom three, but Nottingham Forest are 17th in the Premier League table with an inferior goal difference compared with the host of this fixture. The Tricky Trees have a 4-2-6 away record in the Premier League and that is a record that deserves a lot of respect.

Nottingham Forest have lost 1 of the last 7 games in all competitions in normal time and that run begun with a 1-2 away win at West Ham United, which could still be a pivotal result come May. They had lost 3 of the last 5 away games in all competitions in normal time and were beaten at Wrexham on Penalties on the FA Cup Third Round, but Nottingham Forest's last away League game ended in a 0-2 win at Brentford.

Matz Sels and Callum Hudson-Odoi both picked up knocks last weekend and are doubtful, while Neco Williams is suspended. Stefan Ortega has been signed from Manchester City and he is expected to start in goal ahead of Angus Gunn.

Head to Head

Nottingham Forest came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground in early November.

Leeds United are unbeaten in 5 at home against Nottingham Forest- 3 in a row had ended in draws at Elland Road, but the most recent fixture in April 2023 ended in a 2-1 home win.

Prediction

It would be something of a miracle for Wolves to avoid relegation from the Premier League and that means there are two spots left that all clubs want to avoid.

This weekend, the teams sitting 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th in the Premier League table face off and the results could be hugely influential as to how things will shake up in May.

The television cameras will be at Elland Road on Friday evening to open this round of games and 16th placed Leeds United are hosting 17th placed Nottingham Forest. Both have 26 points on the board, which means having a 6 point gap to 18th placed West Ham United, and both Daniel Farke and Sean Dyche will appreciate the importance of picking up three points.

Last month Dyche took his Nottingham Forest team to East London to earn a victory over West Ham United and the side have lost 1 of the last 7 games in all competitions in normal time. Draws with the likes of Arsenal and Crystal Palace have sandwiched a very important win at Brentford and so Nottingham Forest have real momentum behind them.

Injuries and suspensions means the squad is without some key players, but the Premier League experience of both manager and players will give Nottingham Forest plenty of belief.

They are facing a Leeds United team who were well beaten by League leaders Arsenal, but Daniel Farke's men deserve respect.

Much like Nottingham Forest, Leeds United have quietly been ticking points over and they have been very effective at Elland Road, despite the thumping at the hands of Arsenal. Prior to that, Leeds United had picked up 11 points from a possible 15 at home and they have had the firepower to beat solid opponents like Crystal Palace and Fulham here.

Respect has to be given to Nottingham Forest and the qualities they have within the squad that makes them dangerous- however, there has been a bit of an issue in finding the right balance between attack and defence and that has reportedly been frustrating the owner.

Sean Dyche will want to set his team up to be hard to beat and then try and counter Leeds United with the pace they have in forward areas, and that can be effective as Nottingham Forest showed at West Ham United. The problem is that they are not creating a lot of high-quality chances when they are getting forward and Leeds United have shown enough intensity at Elland Road to bounce back from the defeat to Arsenal by earning an important three points on Friday night.

Leeds United have perhaps been held back by a little lack of composure with the chances that they have created against clubs outside of the Big Six.

That will need to change to turn a few more draws into wins and to push them clear of the relegation zone and they may be able to showcase some of the improvements by producing a narrow win against a relegation rival in a big fixture on Friday night.