Preview: FC Midtjylland vs Nottingham Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest will be looking to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit when they travel to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland at MCH Arena for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night.

Five months after losing 3-2 to the Wolves in the League Phase, the Tricky Trees were beaten again by a 1-0 scoreline at the City Ground last week.

Match preview

Nottingham Forest slashed their ticket prices to entice a capacity crowd for last week’s first leg at the City Ground, but home supporters endured another frustrating result on a damp and disheartening night against a familiar foe in Midtjylland.

New head coach Vitor Pereira said ‘even the rain played against’ his Forest side, who failed to convert any of their 22 shots on goal against Midtjylland before drawing a blank in front of goal once again in Sunday’s goalless stalemate with Fulham in the Premier League.

Brought in as Sean Dyche’s replacement last month, Pereira hit the ground running at Forest with a statement away win over Fenerbahce (3-0) in his first match, but the Tricky Trees have been unable to build further momentum under the Portuguese, failing to win any of their last six games across all tournaments (D2 L4).

In danger of suffering relegation from England’s top tier and exiting the Europa League, Forest have lost their clinical touch in front of their own fans, as they have scored just one goal in their last five home games across all competitions from 99 attempts. However, the Tricky Trees have netted nine goals across their last five away matches.

Forest have, in fact, won two of their last three Europa League away games (L1) and they need to produce another strong performance on their travels if they wish to reach the quarter-finals of a major European competition for the first time since the 1995-96 UEFA Cup.

In stark contrast to Forest, Midtjylland were ruthless in last week’s first leg, with substitute Gue-sung Cho scoring 10 minutes from time with only their second shot on target of the entire match. They could have increased their tally had Valdemar Andreasen not rattled the crossbar with a 25-yard strike.

Midtjylland have only ever scored two winning goals in the 80th minute or later away from home in their major European history, and both of those have come against Forest (also netting in the 88th minute of the aforementioned 3-2 League Phase victory in October).

Head coach Mike Tullberg was keen to emphasis how impressive his team have been to beat a “very good” Premier League side not once, but twice this season, one that he believes is “not a team playing against relegation”.

Midtjylland have certainly been one of the surprise packages in the Europa League this season, finishing third in the 36-team League Phase, winning seven of their nine Europa League games (D1 L1) and now in a strong position to reach the quarter-finals of any European competition for the first time in their history.

The Wolves are also bidding to win the Danish Superliga title this season, but they suffered a major setback last weekend after losing 1-0 at home to FC Nordsjaelland. Conceding a 99th-minute goal has subsequently seen them slip five points behind the summit, while their eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions has come to an end.

FC Midtjylland Europa League form:

FC Midtjylland form (all competitions):

Nottingham Forest Europa League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Team News

Midtjylland striker Franculino, who has scored a team-high 21 goals this term, is ruled out with a knee injury, while teenage winger Mikel Gogorza (unspecified) is also sidelined.

However, Dario Osorio is available to return from a one-match suspension and will battle with ex-Fulham man Kevin Mbabu for a start at right wing-back in a 3-5-2 system.

Gue-sung Cho will be pushing to start up front after netting as a substitute in the first leg, while former Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing is likely to retain his place in the first XI alongside Denil Castillo and Pedro Bravo.

As for Nottingham Forest, Jair Cunha was take off early in the first half of the first leg with a foot injury, and the defender is joined in the treatment room by Stefan Ortega (calf), Nicolo Savona, Chris Wood, John Victor and Willy Boly (all knee). Luca Netz (meanwhile), is ineligible for the Europa League.

Neco Williams, Nikola Milenkovic and Ibrahim Sangare could all be recalled after beginning as substitutes in the first leg, with the latter hoping to start alongside Elliot Anderson in centre-midfield.

Morgan Gibbs-White is expected to start in an advanced role behind striker Igor Jesus. The pair have scored 40% of Forest’s 55 goals in all tournaments this season, with the latter netting seven of those in the Europa League; only Ludogorets’ Petar Stanic has scored as many in the competition.

FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:

Olafsson; Erlic, Bech Sorensen, Diao; Osorio, Billing, Bravo, Castillo, Bak; Simsir, Brumado

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

We say: FC Midtjylland 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Midtjylland to win 2-1 on aggregate)

Nottingham Forest’s shot converted rate of 8.4% in all competitions this season is a major concern, but they have favoured playing on the road in recent weeks and will need to adopt an attack-minded approach if they wish to prevail in Denmark.

However, Midtjylland have won all four of their home fixtures in the Europa League this season, conceding just one goal in the process, and having already frustrated the Tricky Trees twice in this competition, we are backing the hosts to secure an aggregate victory.

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