Preview: Braga vs Nottingham Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

Braga and Nottingham Forest will both be looking to boost their automatic last-16 qualification hopes in the Europa League when they do battle in their penultimate League Phase fixture at Estadio Municipal de Braga on Thursday night.

These two teams have never faced each other in a competitive match before, but the Tricky Trees did claim a 3-0 friendly win over their Portuguese counterparts back in July 2016.

Match preview

Nottingham Forest have only won one of their last seven matches across all competitions (D1 L5), but head coach Sean Dyche will have taken positives from his side’s performance in a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Premier League leaders Arsenal last weekend.

Still, the Tricky Trees sit 17th in the top-flight table and remain in the relegation picture, as a win for 18th-placed West Ham - whom Forest beat 2-1 away from home earlier this month - against Tottenham in their last outing has cut the gap between the two teams to five points with 16 games remaining.

Forest’s focus now shifts to the Europa League where they have accumulated 11 points in their opening six League Phase matches (W3 D2 L1), most recently beating Malmo (3-0) and FC Utrecht (2-1) at the end of last year to boost their hopes of reaching the knockout rounds.

Competing in European competition for the first time in 30 years, Forest currently sit 11th in the 36-team standings and are two points behind the automatic last-16 qualification spots, aware that they can ill-afford to drop points in their remaining two fixtures against Braga and Ferencvaros.

Forest will take comfort from the fact that they have already beaten Portuguese opposition in the Europa League this season, winning 2-0 at home against Primeira Liga leaders Porto on matchday three in Dyche’s first game in charge.

Braga did not start 2026 as they had hoped, as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Vitoria Guimaraes in the Taca da Liga final before crashing out in the quarter-finals of the Taca de Portugal following another 2-1 loss to third-tier outfit AD Fafe.

However, Carlos Vicens’s side returned to winning ways in dramatic fashion on Sunday, as Rodrigo Zalazar’s scored a 92nd-minute penalty, shortly after Gustaf Lagerbielke was sent off, to seal a slender 1-0 away victory in the Primeira Liga.

Braga have subsequently climbed up to fifth in the top-flight table and sit just one point behind fourth spot - where they have finished in four of the last five seasons - but their top-three aspirations have faded, as they find themselves 12 points behind Benfica in third.

In the Europa League, Braga sit seventh in the 36-team table and occupy one of the automatic last-16 qualification spots, after winning four of their first six League Phase matches (D1 L1), most recently beating Nice 1-0 away from home on December 11.

The Archbishops head into Thursday's clash with Forest having previously faced English opposition 20 times in their history and they have only celebrated victory six times (D4 L10), most recently beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Molineux in the 2019-20 Europa League group stage.

Braga Europa League form:

Braga form (all competitions):

- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W

Nottingham Forest Europa League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Team News

Braga will be without injured duo Amine El Ouazzani (foot) and Sandro Vidigal (unspecified), while January signing Samy Merheg is ineligible for the Europa League until the knockout rounds.

In addition, top scorer Rodrigo Zalazar - who has 14 goals to his name this term - will serve the second of a two-match continental suspension, so Gabri Martinez could deputise in the final third alongside Pau Victor and Ricardo Horta.

Former Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho, 39, is set to link arms with Florian Grillitsch in the middle of the pitch, while Sikou Niakate could be joined at centre-back by one or two of Lagerbielke, Carvalho and Bright Arrey-Mbi, depending on whether Vicens names a three-man or four-man backline.

As for Nottingham Forest, Chris Wood and John Victor remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Ola Aina, Omari Hutchinson, Taiwo Awoniyi, Angus Gunn and Jair Cunha are all ineligible as they were not selected in the club’s Europa League squad.

Nicolo Savona is set to deputise at right-back in the absence of Aina, while Douglas Luiz will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI alongside star midfielder Elliot Anderson, which could see Ibrahim Sangare make way.

Morgan Gibbs-White is expected to continue in an advanced midfield role, while Igor Jesus is set to lead the line – the Brazilian striker is Forest’s top scorer this season with eight goals in all competitions, including four in the Europa League.

Braga possible starting lineup:

Hornicek; Lagerbielke, Carvalho, Niakate; Dorgeles, Grillitsch, Moutinho, Lelo; Martinez, Victor, Horta

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Luiz; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

We say: Braga 1-1 Nottingham Forest

A closely-contested battle between two teams still in with a fighting chance of punching their ticket to the last 16 could be on the cards, with Forest arguably needing to win this more than their opponents. However, we are backing Braga to frustrate the visitors and claim at least a point in front of their own fans.

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