Forest look to down Leeds in Premier League relegation showdown

Leeds United host Nottingham Forest at Elland Road for Friday’s Premier League relegation survival clash.

The Whites were battered 4-0 by league leaders Arsenal last time out in the Premier League and will be keen to claim all three points and move further away from the drop zone.

Forest were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Crystal Palace in their last Premier League outing, and they currently sit 17th in the PL standings, six points above the drop zone.

Match preview

Leeds United have won their last three Premier League home games against Nottingham Forest (1996, 1999 & 2023) and have never failed to score in their 25 top-flight home matches against the Tricky Trees.

Nottingham Forest are looking to complete the league double over Leeds for the first time since 2013/14, and for just the second time ever in the top flight after 1995/96.

The Tricky Trees have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League games against promoted sides (W9 D5), a 1-0 home defeat against Sunderland earlier this season.

The Whites have won all four of their Premier League night matches at Elland Road this season (7.30pm or later), most recently a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace in December.

After a run of six defeats in seven Premier League games in October/November (W1), Leeds have lost just two of their last 11 since the start of December (W3 D6). They’ve conceded four goals in both of these defeats, including a 4-0 home loss to Arsenal last time out.

Forest are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games (W2 D2). It’s their longest run without defeat this season, last going longer between December and January last season (8).

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored nine Premier League goals this season, only twice before reaching double figures in a single campaign (13 in 2019/20, 16 in 2020/21). The last Englishman to score 10 league goals in their first season with Leeds United was Matt Smith in 2013/14 (12 in the Championship).

Morgan Gibbs-White has either scored (3) or assisted (1) a goal in four of his last five Premier League appearances, while he also scored what proved to be Nottingham Forest’s winner in the reverse fixture against Leeds in November.

Team news

Leeds United

Daniel James, Lukas Nmecha and Jaka Bijol are unavailable due to injuries.

Nottingham Forest

Matz Sels, John Victor, Nicolo Savona, Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi are sidelined with injuries, while Neco Williams is suspended after he was sent off in the Palace draw.

Predicted line-ups

Leeds United: Darlow, Bornauw, Rodon, Struijk, Bogle, Ampadu, Gruev, Justin, Stach, Okafor, Calvert-Lewin.

Nottingham Forest: Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Sangare, Anderson, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Jesus.