Nottingham Forest 2025-26 Season Preview

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 11th (NB: this is not necessarily Will Unwin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 16th

Prospects

Oliver Glasner’s arrival has resulted, as one would expect, in a change in formation. The Austrian has introduced the 3-4-2-1 set-up that brought him success at Crystal Palace. It will take time for Nottingham Forest’s players to adapt to the new system but there have been positive signs in pre-season. Importantly, the club has three high-quality centre-backs to form the foundation of Glasner’s masterplan.

Going through four head coaches in a season is never a good sign and the hope among Forest fans will be that Glasner provides the long-term stability they all crave. The team became engulfed in a relegation battle in the previous campaign as players jumped from one style to another at a moment’s notice. With Glasner at the helm things should be more straightforward, not that Forest make life easy for themselves. A lack of European football will no doubt help the squad. The talent available is also better than has been the case previously, and a more settled environment should be beneficial for Dan Ndoye and Dilane Bakwa who faced difficult first years in the Premier League.

Forest are seeking to sign a new striker, with Chris Wood’s injury record and ageing body raising questions about the 34-year-old’s ability to lead the line for a full season. Liam Delap is of interest and feels like the ideal candidate if Forest can prise him away from Chelsea, albeit the 23-year-old will not come cheap.

Off-field picture

Evangelos Marinakis has launched legal action against Crystal Palace after some of their fans produced a derogatory banner about the Forest owner. That grabbed plenty of headlines, something the Greek shipping magnate is more than used to. Meanwhile, plans to expand the City Ground from 30,500 to 52,500 are awaiting planning approval from the local council, with next summer the most likely time for the project to start should it be given the green light. The process has taken a long time but when construction on this scale is involved, requiring the demolition of properties, the road is rarely smooth.

Owner-fan relationship

Ticket prices were a sticking point for fans last season, especially in the Europa League. Forest had to drop prices after poor sales. Season tickets were frozen to soften the tension. Overall, Marinakis is generally popular thanks to Forest’s success in recent years but his hire and fire attitude when it comes to coaches leads to plenty of dissenting voices.

The manager

It came as a surprise when Vítor Pereira was dismissed and replaced by Glasner. The Portuguese had done a good job in steadying the ship and the Austrian had recently left Palace, who have beef with Forest. Glasner is undeniably an upgrade on Pereira, however, and his style fits the personnel available to him in Nottingham. Glasner fell out with those above him at Palace over transfer dealings and will certainly need to have a better relationship with the City Ground hierarchy.

Stat attack

Forest finished 16th in the league table and Opta’s expected points standings last season. That hardly represents the full story for the first team in Premier League history to appoint four permanent managers in one campaign. Not one of them left the role having overseen a positive expected goal difference in 2025-26. Can Glasner improve the team’s underlying performance? He is unlikely to last long at the City Ground if not.

Star signing

Gone are the days where Forest sign anyone and everyone. Ousmane Diomande is the only signing, at the time of writing, to have cost the club any money this summer, with £34m spent to secure the Ivorian defender from Sporting. He is hugely admired by Glasner and, aged 22, is a solid investment, someone who can slot in straight away but should also develop for years to come.

Set for a breakthrough

James McAtee’s first season in Nottingham was underwhelming to say the least. He could not get into the team, blocked by Morgan Gibbs-White and never likely to oust him. Some expected McAtee to have left by now but he remains and could have accidentally become Elliot Anderson’s replacement in central midfield after Forest failed to acquire Lucas Bergvall. A gifted player with the ball at his feet, McAtee has the right attributes for the role when in possession but will need to be more aggressive and disciplined off the ball to thrive.

World Cup impact

Ola Aina is one of football’s more charismatic players and, without the prospect of being at the World Cup after Nigeria failed to qualify, he got to have some lovely time away from the pitch. Aina paintballed with Fikayo Tomori, went to the French Open and Wimbledon and made it to the pits at the British Grand Prix. He must surely be reinvigorated for the new season.