Nottingham Forest vs. Midtjylland – News and Probable Lineups

Nottingham Forest is set to host FC Midtjylland at the City Ground for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 encounter on Thursday night.

After losing 3-2 to their Danish counterparts at home during the League Phase in October while under former manager Ange Postecoglou, the Tricky Trees will be looking for retaliation.

Match overview

Participating in European competitions for the first time in three decades, Nottingham Forest could not secure automatic qualification for the last 16 of the Europa League. Instead, they entered the knockout playoff round after finishing 13th in the League Phase, securing four wins, two draws, and two losses from their eight matches.

The Tricky Trees faced what appeared to be a daunting two-legged tie against Turkish powerhouses Fenerbahce, but under the new direction of head coach Vitor Pereira, they achieved a 4-2 aggregate victory, including a surprising 3-0 win away in the first leg followed by a 2-1 defeat at home in the second leg.

Since then, Forest has extended their winless streak across all competitions to four matches, suffering a 2-1 defeat against Brighton in the Premier League before managing a commendable 2-2 draw with title contenders Manchester City a couple of Wednesdays ago, placing them just above the relegation zone due to goal difference.

For Forest, remaining in the Premier League is crucial, but also advancing in the Europa League is a goal, as they strive to reach the quarter-finals of any European competition for the first time since the 1995-96 UEFA Cup.

Reclaiming the European success achieved under Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980 remains the ultimate aspiration, but Pereira will likely prioritize taking one step at a time, with an improvement in form at home being necessary, given that the Tricky Trees have managed just one victory in their last eight games at the City Ground (D3 L4).

Midtjylland has emerged as one of the surprising teams in this season’s Europa League, securing 19 points from eight League Phase matches to finish third in the 36-team standings and qualify directly for the last 16.

Between September and January, they achieved victories over Forest, Sturm Graz, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Celtic, Genk, and Dinamo Zagreb, with a lone 2-1 defeat away to Roma being their only blemish.

Following the League Phase, Mike Tullberg’s team has maintained an unbeaten run of five games domestically, gathering seven points from three Danish Superliga matches (W2 D1) to stay four points off the top, while also emerging victorious against title rivals Aarhus GF 2-1 on aggregate to progress to the Danish Cup final, which included a 1-1 draw in the second leg last weekend.

Now, Midtjylland is refocusing on the Europa League, and excluding the qualifiers, they have faced English teams five times in significant European competitions – winning twice, once against Forest and another against Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United (2-1) during the first leg of a last-32 Europa League match in February 2016.

Team News

Nottingham Forest will be without Chris Wood, Nicolo Savona, John Victor, and Willy Boly (all suffering from knee injuries), while January acquisition Luca Netz is ineligible as he was not included in the club’s Europa League squad.

New signing Stefan Ortega will be evaluated ahead of kick-off after missing last week’s Premier League draw with Manchester City due to a calf issue. Matz Sels stands ready to take over in goal if necessary.

Pereira may opt to bring back Callum Hudson-Odoi and Omari Hutchinson if he decides to switch to a formation featuring natural wingers, while Igor Jesus will likely continue in the attacking role – the Brazilian is the joint-top scorer in the Europa League this season, boasting seven goals in eight matches.

On the side of Midtjylland, leading scorer Franculino, who has netted 21 goals this season, will miss Thursday’s clash due to injury along with Mikel Gogorza, while winger Dario Osorio is suspended following an accumulation of yellow cards.

Junior Brumado and Gue-sung Cho are both vying for starting spots in the attack alongside Aral Simsir, while ex-Fulham defender Kevin Mbabu and former Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing are expected to retain their roles in the starting XI.

Nottingham Forest probable starting XI:

Ortega; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

FC Midtjylland probable starting XI:

Olafsson; Erlic, Bech Sorensen, Diao; Mbabu, Billing, Castle, Bak; Simsir; Cho, Broken

Anticipate goals in this fixture as well, since 3 or more goals have been scored in seven of Forest’s Europa League matches and five of Midtjylland’s, including the five goals scored in the latter’s earlier win against the former this season.

Forest understands the danger that Midtjylland could represent in attack; however, we predict that Pereira’s squad will at least secure a draw this time.