Premier League 2025/26 Relegation: Nottingham Forest most backed for the drop | OneFootball

New Betfair data shows Nottingham Forest are the most backed Premier League team for relegation in 2025/26, as punters put their money on Nuno Espirito Santo's side slding down the table.

The Tricky Trees are in for a difficult campaign, if the number of bets being placed on their demise is anything to go by, and fans will be alarmed.

A whopping 34% of bets in the market have been on Nottingham Forest. Their supporters may already have been feeling concerned after the sale of winger Anthony Elanga to Newcastle this week was followed by reports that midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White is on the verge of joining Tottenham.

An exodus of key players after a brilliant campaign, which saw Forest finish seventh and qualify for Europe, is not what fans want to see. Forest are 9/1 to go down and have proved to be an appealing bet this summer.

Brentford and Sunderland also backed for relegation

The other established Premier League club that bettors are backing for relegation is Brentford 7/2. The Bees finished 10th in 2024/25. But the departure to Tottenham of Thomas Frank - the manager who got them into the top flight and kept them there - was the sting in the tale of a fine season.

They are not far behind Forest, when it comes to the relegation bets, with 32% of the market share.

Sunderland are the relegation favourites at 2/9 - the shortest price of any team in the division - but they have only received eight per cent of the bets in the market. That may be, of course, because punters are looking elsewhere for value.

For the past two seasons in a row, all three relegation spots have been filled by promoted teams. The market says the pattern will be repeated in 2025/26, with Burnley 7/20 and Leeds 17/20 expected to struggle as well as Sunderland.

Can any of the promoted trio stay up this season? After two seasons of misery for teams that came up from the Championship, it would be good to see them defy expectations. At the prices, Leeds stand the best chance of staying in the top flight.

The most backed data indicates that bettors are looking beyond the promotees for teams that could be in trouble. At 9/1 Forest are an appealing price. Their form dropped off at the end of their excellent campaign and the site of the unpredictable owner confronting his manager on the pitch after their draw with Leicester was alarming. If you think Forest will tumble from last season's seventh-place finish by at least 11 places, then they are a bet.