Leeds v Nottingham Forest preview
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke expects Nottingham Forest to make it “difficult to create chances” when the sides who are level on 26 points meet at Elland Road on Friday.
With 14 league matches remaining, both teams are six points above third-bottom West Ham with an eight-goal superiority – and the Hammers face a winnable-looking trip to second-bottom Burnley on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
“I am confident that with this group we can achieve our goals,” said Farke. “We are capable to win enough points to win the right to stay in this league.
“Nothing is achieved yet, though. In each and every game day you have to fight to win points. We have to be on it, focused, concentrated and we will definitely need our supporters.
⏪ Rewind: Nottingham Forest pic.twitter.com/xprBdEJPih
— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 4, 2026
“Forest are a team of lots of individual quality; they qualified for Europe last season and spent lots of money last summer.
“They are definitely strong opponents and against these sides it is never easy to create chances, to open them up.”
The Whites had lost one of their previous 11 matches in all competitions before a 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal last Saturday, while Forest have taken eight points from their last four league games following a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
“The players don’t need me to keep reminding them about the games,” said boss Sean Dyche. “I’ve spoken endlessly about them.
“My mentality – and what I’m trying to instil in the players – is that every game is a big game and we should go into it believing we can win.
“It’s not easy, but that’s the mentality I want. The noise can be the noise and you see through that with pure mentality to deliver whenever that whistle goes. We’re showing signs of getting there.”
Leeds United v Nottingham Forest team news
Leeds centre-back Jaka Bijol (hamstring) could be in contention and full-back James Justin (bruised toe) is available after both returned to training.
Farke offered “very good news” on Daniel James, saying the winger is “making progress” on a comeback from a hamstring injury.
The German described Lukas Nmecha’s involvement as “probably unlikely”, with the forward “not too far away” from being back in training following a hamstring issue.
Anton Stach sustained a hip problem during the defeat to Arsenal. Farke expects the midfielder to be out for between 10 and 14 days.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels could return for Forest following a hip issue but Stefan Ortega, who has joined on loan from Manchester City, is available to deputise.
Midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi is a doubt with a shoulder problem and defender Nicolo Savona is expected to return later in February from a knee injury.
Neco Williams is suspended for receiving a red card against Palace, so Luca Netz could replace the full-back, having arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Goalkeeper John Victor and striker Chris Wood are out with long-term knee injuries and towering Napoli loanee Lorenzo Lucca could make his debut in attack.
Leeds United v Forest predicted line ups
Leeds United starting XI: Karl Darlow, James Justin, Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk, Jayden Bogle, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson, Wilfried Gnonto
Nottingham Forest starting XI: Stefan Ortega, Ola Aina, Nikola Milenkovic, Luca Netz, Ryan Yates, Omari Hutchinson, Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Douglas Luiz, Dan Ndoye, Igor Jesus
Leeds v Forest: TV channel, online live streams
Kick-off on Friday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
Streaming is available on a vast variety of devices via the Sky GO app.
Leeds v Nottingham Forest stats
- Leeds have won their last three Premier League home games against Nottingham Forest (1996, 1999 and 2023) and scored in each of their 25 top-flight home matches in the fixture
- Farke’s side have won all four of their Premier League night matches at Elland Road this season (19:30 or later), most recently beating Palace 4-1 in December
- 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 was Matt Smith in 2013/14 (12 in the Championship)
- Only Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister (31) has had more shots without scoring than Leeds’ Pascal Struijk (22) in the division this season, with Struijk accumulating the highest expected goals total without a goal so far (2.32)
- After a run of six defeats in seven Premier League games across October and November (W1), Leeds have lost two of their last 11 since the start of December (W3 D6)
- Forest are looking to complete a 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
- They have lost one of their last 15 Premier League games against promoted sides (W9 D5), suffering a 1-0 home defeat against Sunderland earlier this season
- An unbeaten run in their last four Premier League games (W2 D2) is their longest sequence without defeat this season, last going longer between December and January last season (8)
- Only bottom side Wolves (6.7%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this season (8.5%). Forest ranked joint-6th in that respect in the competition last season (12.5%)
- Morgan Gibbs-White has either scored (3) or assisted (1) a goal in four of his last five Premier League appearances, as well as scoring Forest’s winner against Leeds in November
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