Nottingham Forest vs Brighton Prediction

We look ahead to Saturday’s Premier League game at the City Ground with our Nottingham Forest vs Brighton prediction and preview. Nuno Espírito Santo’s men will look to bounce back from a bruising defeat last weekend.

Nottingham Forest vs Brighton Stats: The Key Insights

• The Opta supercomputer has Nottingham Forest as the favourites to win this one, with the hosts winning 40.5% of its 10,000 pre-match simulations.
• Forest’s eight-game unbeaten run came to an end last time out at Bournemouth, conceding more goals in that defeat (5) than they did in their previous seven Premier League games combined (4).
• Brighton have scored the opening goal in 10 of their 12 Premier League away games this season, including in each of their last five, more than any other side. Meanwhile, Forest have gone 1-0 up in 18 of their 23 league games overall this term, the most in the division.

Nottingham Forest will hope to respond positively from their chastening defeat last Saturday when they host Brighton at the City Ground this weekend in the Premier League.

After an outstanding start to the season that saw them touted by some as unlikely title contenders, Forest were brought crashing back down to earth last weekend as they were thumped 5-0 by fellow surprise packages Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Another defeat this weekend would be just the second time Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have lost two consecutive Premier League games this season, having last done so in November against Newcastle and Arsenal.

Despite the loss at Bournemouth, Forest’s impressive season remains intact, surprising many who tipped them for relegation, and they remain in third place in the race for the Champions League.

A return to the City Ground could be just the tonic after last weekend, too, with Forest winning six of their last eight Premier League home games (D1 L1), with five of those six victories coming by a one-goal margin.

This weekend will be just the second time Forest are kicking off in the 12:30pm Saturday slot since their return to the Premier League, beating Liverpool 1-0 at home in October 2022 in their only previous outing at that time.

The impressive form of Nuno’s men has been in no small part down to their striker Chris Wood, whose tally of 12 non-penalty Premier League goals this season is bettered only by Erling Haaland (17), Alexander Isak (16) and Mohamed Salah (14).

Notably, Wood has scored more goals against Brighton (9) than he has against any other side in his English league career.

Brighton are also licking their wounds after defeat last time out, losing 1-0 at home to Everton to end their six-game unbeaten run.

Brighton have won just two of their last 11 Premier League games (D6 L3) and could lose consecutive matches for the first time since ending last season with back-to-back defeats.

That loss leaves Brighton playing catch-up in the race for European qualification, currently in ninth and six points behind Bournemouth in seventh.

Fabian Hurzeler’s excellent start to life in English football since arriving from St. Pauli has somewhat dwindled, though an away win on Saturday could be just the spark needed to revitalise Brighton’s season.

João Pedro could be the man to help them achieve that. The Brazilian has six goal involvements in his last eight away appearances in the Premier League (2 goals, 4 assists), also netting a brace at the City Ground back in November 2023.

In terms of team news, Forest remain without Ibrahim Sangaré for this weekend’s contest, though Callum Hudson-Odoi could return after missing the game at Bournemouth.

Brighton’s injury list is much more extensive, with the likes of Pervis Estupinan, Evan Ferguson and Solly March all unavailable, as well as James Milner and Ferdi Kadioglu.

Nottingham Forest vs Brighton Head-to-Head

Forest are winless in their last three Premier League meetings with Brighton (D1 L2), having been unbeaten in their previous eight top-flight matches against the Seagulls.

Brighton won this exact fixture 3-2 last season – they’ve never before won consecutive away league games against Forest.

The last meeting between these sides was back in September, when 10-man Forest battled to a 2-2 draw at the Amex Stadium in an ill-tempered affair that saw both managers sent off.

Nottingham Forest vs Brighton Prediction

Despite their heavy defeat last time out, the Opta supercomputer predicts Forest as the favourites for this fixture, winning 40.5% of pre-match simulations.

A Brighton win could be massive against a fellow challenger for Europe, and they come out victorious 33.7% of the time. A draw might not be a bad result for Hurzeler’s side considering Forest’s home form, though, and the teams share the spoils in 25.8% of simulations.

Nottingham Forest vs Brighton Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Saturday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

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