Nottingham Forest vs Coventry City - prediction, team news, lineups

By Ben Knapton | 17 Sep 2026 11:24, Last updated: 17 Sep 2026 11:37

Saturday's 5.30pm Premier League kickoff pits Nottingham Forest and Coventry City against each other in a bottom-half battle.

While Oliver Glasner's men belatedly earned their maiden win of the season last time out, the Sky Blues are yet to even register a point, furthering fears of an immediate demotion back down to the Championship.

Blessed with a full week's worth of preparation thanks to their early EFL Cup elimination - their second successive loss to Leeds United in the space of two matchdays - Nottingham Forest are unbeaten against teams not led by Daniel Farke this season.

Since their second-round exit, Glasner has overseen a respectable two draws and solitary victory in the top flight, taking points off of Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool before the Tricky Trees made Villa Park their playground.

Nottingham Forest did become the first Premier League team to concede a goal to Unai Emery's side in 2026-27, but Alysson's strike was meaningless come full time, as Liam Delap and Igor Jesus propelled the Garibaldi to maximum points.

Glasner's men have suddenly launched themselves to within one point of the top half of the Premier League table, but the City Ground is yet to witness a home goal this season, as the hosts have drawn blanks against Leeds (twice) and Tottenham thus far.

Furthermore, by the time Saturday rolls around, it will have been exactly five months since Nottingham Forest last won a Premier League home game - their 4-1 beating of Burnley on April 19.

Five goals also flew into the back of the net at the CBS Arena last weekend, but not a single one was scored by the home side, as Coventry's catastrophic return to the Premier League hit its lowest ebb yet.

Frank Lampard's men had reason for optimism after a battling 1-0 loss to Manchester City, who needed Gianluigi Donnarumma to bail them out on a couple of occasions, but Brighton & Hove Albion's 5-0 battering was a brutal reality check.

Already the only team without a point on the board, and one of just two still waiting for their first top-flight goal alongside Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry now risk becoming the seventh team in Premier League history to lose each of their opening five games of a campaign.

Four of the previous six in that unwanted club suffered relegation - the outliers being 2017-18 Crystal Palace and 1998-99 Southampton - and Lampard's side also saw their fleeting EFL Cup dreams crushed in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Aston Villa.

However, early elimination at least removes a distraction from the survival fight for the Sky Blues, whose record against Forest also makes for grim reading; the visitors have lost four of their last five against the Garibaldi, most recently a 2-0 Championship reverse in April 2022.

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Forest were forced into an unplanned defensive change ahead of their visit to Villa, as both Nikola Milenkovic and Jair Cunha reported hamstring tightness in training, and neither man is guaranteed to make the cut here.

However, Ola Aina, Ousmane Diomande and Murillo formed a largely effective back three in the West Midlands and should continue in an unchanged rearguard, which Nicolo Savona (knee) is also absent from.

Doing in 13 minutes what Dan Ndoye could not in 75, Jesus has surely played his way into a start alongside Delap and Morgan Gibbs-White, potentially signalling a shift to a 3-4-1-2 shape from Glasner.

As for Coventry, Lampard was dealt a new defensive blow on Wednesday night when Aurele Amenda was taken off in the 12th minute with a calf injury, one which will almost certainly rule him out of the weekend's game.

Amenda's injury opens the door for Stephen Mfuni to join Bobby Thomas and Ethan Pinnock in the back three, but Lampard is also missing Haji Wright (thigh), Kaine Kesler-Hayden (thigh), Josh Eccles (calf), Luke Woolfenden (knee) and the banned Taiwo Awoniyi.

Sidiki Cherif was given the nod up top on Wednesday in Awoniyi's absence, but having been withdrawn before the hour mark, the teenager could now make way for the more experienced Ellis Simms.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Diomande, Murillo; Munoz, Schlager, McAtee, Williams; Gibbs-White; Jesus, Delap

Rushworth; Mfuni, Thomas, Pinnock; Van Ewijk, Grimes, Onyeka, Dasilva; Rudoni, Hamer; Simms

Coventry fired in their first goal against a Premier League team this season on Wednesday, but their consolation against Villa came via a stunning Victor Torp free kick as opposed to a blistering open-play sequence.

Therefore, a Nottingham Forest unit who have been steadily growing more resilient in recent weeks should subject the Sky Blues to a familiar fate; another scoreless defeat.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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