Key events
32 min Neto smashes a cross-shot from a very tight angle that Sels saves comfortably.
31 min Garnacho, who was excellent against Liverpool a fortnight ago, has been kept very quiet so far. A poor outside-of-the-boot cross, straight into the hands of Sels, sums up his game so far.
30 min That James free-kick was Chelsea’s first attempt at goal.
29 min James hits a free-kick from a long way out, 30 yards or more. Sels saves comfortably.
27 min Douglas Luiz’s free-kick from the right almost falls for Awoniyi and then does reach Murillo beyond the far post. He knocks it back across goal from a tight angle and Sanchez pushes the ball away.
Forest have been the better team so far.
24 min Forest are having more of the ball now, as shown by an slick end-to-end move that only ends when Williams’ sharp cutback is cleared.
20 min A tougher chance for Gibbs-White, who volleys over acrobatically from a tight angle after Forest again win the ball high up the field. They’ve done that excellently in the first 20 minutes.
19 min: Chance for Gibbs-White!
Chalobah allows Acheampong’s square pass to run under his foot and reach Awoniyi. He feeds an early through to Gibbs-White, who whips a first-time effort just wide from the edge of the area.
File under ‘for a player of his quality, that’s a decent chance’.
18 min Gibbs-White keeps the ball in on the left and plays it back to Zinchenko. His deflected cross is headed away but Forest regain possession. Eventually Murillo threads an imaginative, but slightly overhit, pass inside Neto towards Zinchenko. Goalkick to Chelsea.
14 min A short-range cross on the turn from Gibbs-White is cleared by Chalobah. No hint of a chance but Gibbs-White looks lively; that’s always good news for Forest.
12 min Possession percentage: Forest 26-74 Chelsea.
9 min: Chance for Forest Plenty of possession for Chelsea, as you’d expect, but Forest look good on the break and have just created the first good opportunity. Gibbs-White led a quick counter-attack and played a crisp angled pass to Anderson on the left side of the area. He tried to chop back inside Acheampong to create a clear shooting chance but left the ball slightly behind and then slipped over as he tried to retrieve it.
6 min Joao Pedro rolls Morato expertly and is pulled back, a brazen foul for which he probably should have been booked.
5 min Neto beats Zinchenko too easily just outside the area and finds Gusto on the outside. His fast first-time cross ricochets around the penalty area until Murillo’s clearance rebounds off the noggin of Andrey Santos and behind for a corner.
3 min Forest have started in a 3-5-2 formation, with Gibbs-White right up front alongside Awoniyi. Chelsea’s formation is the same as usual.
48 seconds Awoniyi collects a loose pass from Gusto, runs to the edge of the D and mishits a left-foot shot well wide. A positive start for him and Forest.
1 min After the players take a knee, Morgan Gibbs-White gets the match under way on a dank, drizzly afternoon in Nottingham.
A bit of news from elsewhere. Crystal Palace have confirmed their captain Marc Guehi will leave the club in the summer after rejecting the offer of a new contract.
The players are about to take the field. These players, to be precise.
Nottm Forest (possible 3-5-1-1) Sels; Milenkovic, Morato, Murillo; Williams, Sangare, Douglas Luiz, Anderson; Gibbs-White; Awoniyi.
Substitutes: John, Hudson-Odoi, Wood, Ndoye, Dominguez, I. Jesus, Yates, Jair Cunha, Savona.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Lavia, Andrey Santos; Neto, Joao Pedro, Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin, Hato, Caicedo, Buonanotte, Estevao, Gittens, George, Guiu.
Referee Chris Kavanagh.
Ange Postecoglou talks to TNT Sports
It’s great to get [Murillo, Zinchenko etc] back. We’ve had a good couple of weeks with a lot of those guys and done some really good work with them.
[On the precedent of the Betis 2-2 draw, when a number of those players were involved and Forest were excellent in the first half especially] Yeah, that’s our way forward. We dominated the ball and created chances against a very good side; that’s what we want to do. We’ve had elements of that in every game but not enough.
[On yesterday’s press conference monologue] At some point you’ve gotta stand up for yourself. It’s not something I’ve done regularly but if you believe in something, and you want to stand up for yourself, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact I preach it all the time to my family, to my kids. Don’t let the bullies get you.
More importantly I just wanted to make sure people are clear. Hopefully the main message I got out yesterday is that I’m still very excited about what we’re doing here and I see a way forward where we have success.
We need to start the game well, get some energy in the stadium and hopefully the fans respond to that because they can play a big part in the result.
Some pre-match stats from Opta
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Nottingham Forest have won just one of their last eight Premier League meetings with Chelsea (D3 L4), a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in September 2023.
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Chelsea have won three of their last four Premier League away games against Nottingham Forest (D1), including both of their last two in a row. The Blues have never before won three successive away league games against the Tricky Trees.
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Nottingham Forest have lost four of their last five Premier League games (D1), failing to score in each defeat. The Tricky Trees could fail to score in three consecutive matches in the top-flight for the first time since April 1999.
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Chelsea have won just three of their last 14 away games in the Premier League (D4 L7). Indeed, in 2025, just 27% of their points have come away from home (12/45) – the lowest ratio of any ever-present side in the top-flight.
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Nottingham Forest have lost five of their last seven Premier League home games (W1 D1), as many as their previous 22 at the City Ground beforehand (W11 D6). The Tricky Trees could lose three successive home league games for the first time since December 2023 (a run of 4).
Chelsea team news: Enzo not in the squad
Enzo Maresca makes three changes to the Chelsea team that beat Liverpool a fortnight ago.
Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia and Andrey Santos replace Benoit Badiashile, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. Caicedo is on the bench; the others are absent.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Sanchez; James, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Lavia, Andrey Santos; Neto, Joao Pedro, Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin, Hato, Caicedo, Buonanotte, Estevao, Gittens, George, Guiu.
Nottm Forest team news: Awoniyi and Murillo start
Taiwo Awoniyi, who hasn’t played for Forest since suffering a ruptured intestine against Leicester in May, goes straight into the starting XI. Murillo also returns from injury in defence. Overall there are five changes from the XI that started the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle before the international break. Ibrahim Sangare, Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko also come into the net; the men dropping out are Jair Cunha, Ryan Yates, Dan Ndoye, Nicolo Savona and Chris Wood.
Nottm Forest (possible 3-5-1-1) Sels; Milenkovic, Morato, Murillo; Williams, Sangare, Douglas Luiz, Anderson; Gibbs-White; Awoniyi.
Substitutes: John, Hudson-Odoi, Wood, Ndoye, Dominguez, I. Jesus, Yates, Jair Cunha, Savona
Chelsea will be without Cole Palmer today, and for the next six weeks.
Ange Postecoglou’s pre-match defence
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of the Nottingham Forest v Chelsea at City Ground. It’s our professional duty to remind you that Ange Postecoglou, who was appointed Forest manager on 9 September 2025, is reportedly fighting for his job, however ludicrous and depressing that might be.
Ange’s future – and his monologue at yesterday’s press confererence – is the dominant context before today’s game against Chelsea, who themselves will hope to pick off where they left off before the international break.
Chelsea’s thrilling victory over Liverpool relieved some of the (ludicrous, depressing) scrutiny on their manager Enzo Maresca, though his celebration of their winning goal means he will be banned from the touchline for today’s game. Mind the laundry baskets.
Kick-off: 12.30pm BST.
