Match Preview: Brentford v Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Brentford return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off GMT).

The Bees will be looking to maintain their unbeaten and league-best home record against a Forest side who are flying high in fourth this term.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

PRE-MATCH ANALYSIS

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: The key match-ups for Saturday's game

After finishing 16th and 17th respectively in the Premier League last season, Brentford and Nottingham Forest's form and fortunes have significantly improved in 2024/25.

Currently 11th in the top flight, Thomas Frank's Bees host Nuno Espírito Santo's high-flyers, who are perched impressively in fourth having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a thrilling 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the City Ground last Saturday.

That Villa win underlined the spirit and resilience Forest have shown so far this season, and there are plenty of intriguing tussles and tactical battles in store at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

It is worth noting straight off the bat that Brentford's unbeaten home record will go on the line against one of the Premier League's best performers on the road. Winning four of their eight games on their travels, Forest have amassed 14 away points this season; only Chelsea (19) and Liverpool (17) have won more.

Brentford's Premier League adventure to date has seen them combine effective, direct football with an evolving ability to control possession and dictate tempo in their own defensive third. In this respect, Forest are an interesting opponent, as they average the second lowest possession share (41 per cent) in the division and the hosts should, therefore, have plenty of the ball.

The trick, however, will be to make that possession count, as - much like he did at Wolves - Nuno has moulded Forest into a lean defensive machine that can soak up pressure and deploy sufficient firepower to hurt their opposition. This brings us to our first match-up of interest: Bryan Mbeumo versus Chris Wood.

Two of only five players to reach double figures for Premier League goals this term, Mbeumo and Wood have notched a couple of penalties apiece, but spot-kicks aside their goalscoring MO couldn't be more different.

Kiwi forward Wood leads the division for headed goals (four) - as he did last season - and has fired his other six strikes with his right foot, while Mbeumo has, no surprises here, scored all 10 of his Premier League goals in 2024/25 with his trusty left foot.

Wood's aerial threat is a big reason why Forest are joint-top of the Premier League goal charts for headed goals this season, with seven, and it will be interesting to see how Brentford's backline divvy up the task of marking the 33-year-old target man.

It is also worth noting that Forest rank joint-second in the division for goals from set-pieces (seven) this season, as only corner-kick aficionados Arsenal (eight) have out-performed Nuno's side in this regard.

If we shift our focus to creating goals, rather than scoring them, there's another fantastic match-up to focus in on. Elliot Anderson and Mikkel Damsgaard have been two of their respective team's most influential performers this season, and the two midfielders share a common ability to make things happen in the final third.

It was Anderson's dynamic run and cross that led to Anthony Elanga's matchwinner for Forest against Villa last weekend and the 22-year-old former Newcastle man currently ranks joint-seventh, with Damsgaard and Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, in the Premier League assist charts.

Let's finish up with a quick word of warning for Brentford on the subject of counter-attacks. Nicolas Jackson's strike for Chelsea last Sunday came on a fast break and the Bees have now conceded more goals (five) on counters than any team in the Premier League this season.

Forest may have only scored one goal from counter-attacks this term, but they led the division for goals on the break in 2023/24 (with nine) and the dual threat they pose, from quick transitions in open play and dead-ball situations, is very much reminiscent of Brentford themselves.

Game on!

SCOUT REPORT

Dan Long: Nottingham Forest on course for top-six finish

There was no surprise Nottingham Forest’s intense approach in the transfer market continued last summer, after huge upheaval ahead of their first season back in the Premier League the year before. They had finished 16th, four points off the bottom three and wanted more.

10 first-team players were signed permanently, four joined on loan, 14 were either sold or released and another 11 went out on loan. If you can believe it, it was quieter than the year before.

By Christmas, though, Steve Cooper had been sacked and replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo after a run of six defeats in eight had left Forest hovering above the bottom three by two points, even after the 3-1 win over Newcastle on Boxing Day.

Including that game, the Portuguese won two of his first three games in charge, but then also oversaw his own run of six defeats in eight, while also contending with a four-point deduction, imposed after Forest breached profit and sustainability rules. The penalty was upheld after an appeal.

It was touch-and-go for the final two months, but crucial wins over Fulham, Sheffield United and Burnley helped them survive by six points. "Our fans are going to see Premier League football [again], that is very important,” said Nuno after survival was confirmed.

Many had Forest down as one of the favourites for relegation again this term, but they have, in fact, proved the doubters - and the hopeful - wrong, in the most astonishing fashion.

In their seven Premier League seasons before 2024/25, they had only twice picked up more than 40 points - Nuno’s side already have 28 on the board, with 22 more games still to play.

Losing just one of their first 10 games saw them skyrocket all the way to third. That run included a first win over Liverpool at Anfield since February 1969 and saw Nuno named Manager of the Month for October.

The form of Chris Wood was integral during that period. The New Zealand international - who is one goal away from 80 in the Premier League - scored eight across the first 10 games. He now has 10 league goals for the season, just five away from a new personal best return in the division.

Understandably, he was keen to remain grounded. After the 3-0 win over West Ham in early November, he said: "It doesn't mean anything now. We have to keep going as it's a very long season ahead of us.” And he was right to be cautious, with defeats to Newcastle, Arsenal and Man City over the next month bringing somewhat of a reality check.

But then they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time in 30 years - inflicting a first home defeat on new boss Ruben Amorim - and all was right in the world again.

"It means a lot for the club,” said Wood. “We should celebrate and be proud of us. I'm very proud of being part of this group of players and the squad. We are trying to do something together, something nice."

Whatever happens from here, “something nice” is certainly on the cards. An average of 36 points has been enough for the team in 17th to secure survival over the last five seasons, and Forest are only eight points away from that total.

In fact, if they continue picking up points at the rate they are currently - 1.75 per game - they will finish with 67 points, which has been enough for a top-six finish across each of the last five campaigns.

Talk of a top-four finish might be premature for now, but a push for a top-half finish for the first time since 1995/96 is rapidly gaining momentum.

IN THE DUGOUT

Nuno Espírito Santo

Once signed by Jose Mourinho during his time at Porto, Nuno Espírito Santo had a long career as a goalkeeper - though he often played second fiddle - primarily spent in Portugal and Spain, with time in Russia at Dynamo Moscow during 2005 and 2006.

Nuno retired in 2010, after his second spell at Porto, but quickly went on to become a goalkeeper coach at Malaga and then Panathinaikos, working with his former manager Jesualdo Ferreira each time. He returned to Portugal to take on his first managerial role with Rio Ave in the summer of 2012 and remained at the club for two years.

He was then hired by Valencia, whom he guided to a fourth-place finish in La Liga in 2014/15, though he resigned less than four months into the following campaign after three defeats in their first five Champions League group matches, as well as five wins from the first 13 league matches, which left them languishing in ninth when he departed.

Porto decided to take a chance on their former player in 2016/17, yet he only saw out half of his two-year deal as the club opted to replace him the following summer after he failed to deliver silverware, despite losing only six of his 49 games in charge.

The 49-year-old is perhaps best known for the four years he spent at Wolves. He joined the club at the end of a chaotic 2016/17 campaign - during which they had three permanent managers - and led them to promotion out of the Championship at the first time of asking. In 2019/20, Wolves recorded their joint-highest Premier League finish (7th and their highest points tally of 59), as well as reaching the quarter-final of the Europa League.

Having left Molineux by mutual consent in June 2021, Nuno went to Tottenham and started well with three straight Premier League wins. Ultimately, he lasted only four months in the job, having followed up those victories with five defeats in the next seven.

He then spent 16 months in Saudi Arabia, guiding Al-Ittihad to the Saudi Pro League title and Saudi Super Cup, and returned to England just before Christmas 2023, having been sacked a little over a month earlier.

THE GAMEPLAN

With Sarah Clapson, Nottinghamshire Live and Nottingham Post

Sarah Clapson, Nottingham Forest correspondent for Nottinghamshire Live and the Nottingham Post, explains how Nuno Espírito Santo is likely to set up his side on Saturday.

"Nuno has pretty much stuck with a 4-2-3-1," said Clapson. "He has changed it a few times, but that is his go-to at the minute and it seems to be one that is working. Sometimes he tweaks it during games, but I think he'll probably start with that.

"I think Forest's focus will probably be on trying to keep it tight because they will be well aware of how good Brentford are at home and the threat they carry. So they will want to make sure that they are really solid and compact, and they are a really effective counter-attacking side.

They've got pace in Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Elanga and Jota Silva who came in in the summer, so they can work really well with that counter-attacking threat. That is probably the way that they will go on Saturday because they will know that it is a really tough game."

Last Premier League starting XI v Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Williams; Yates, Anderson; Domínguez, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

Read our full interview with Sarah Clapson here.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Oliver returns to the Gtech

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistants: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring

Fourth official: Andy Davies

Video assistant referee: Jarred Gillett

Michael Oliver will referee Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium for the second time this season when he takes charge of Saturday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest.

Oliver was the man in the middle for the Bees' 4-1 win against Leicester City last month and handed out two yellow cards; Keane Lewis-Potter getting booked as well as James Justin for the Foxes.

That's two of 99 yellows he has given in 20 games this term, along with the two red cards he has dished out.

LAST MEETING

Brentford 3 Nottingham Forest 2 (Premier League, 20 January 2024)

Ivan Toney marked his return from an eight-month ban with a goal as Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Gtech Community Stadium.

Toney equalised from a direct free-kick after Danilo had volleyed Forest into an early lead.

Ben Mee powered in a header at the near post following a corner before Chris Wood nodded in to make it 2-2 at the other end.

A superb turn and half-volley into the bottom corner from Neal Maupay saw the Bees claim all three points.