Fenerbahce vs. Nottingham Forest: History favours Vitor Pereira's side ahead of Europa League tie in Turkey

Nottingham Forest have history on their side as they prepare to face Fenerbahce in their Europa League playoff tie.

The Premier League outfit play the Turkish giants on away territory on Thursday night as Vitor Pereira takes charge of his first game.

Pereira, who has become the fourth Forest head coach of 2025-26, claimed at a press conference on Tuesday that he was confident of delivering success under owner Evangelos Marinakis.

However, there is an argument that Forest are the marginal underdogs against opponents who are yet to lose in this season's Super Lig.

Nevertheless, if history is anything to go by, Forest should be confident of repeating the victory that Aston Villa achieved at Fenerbahce during the League Phase.

© Imago

Why does history favour Forest against Fenerbahce?

Given Forest's long period away from the European scene, this is unsurprisingly the first-ever competitive fixture between the two teams.

Remarkably, English and Turkish clubs have not faced each other in a European knockout tie for 11 seasons, when Besiktas edged out Liverpool on penalties in the last 32 of the 2014-15 Europa League.

That said, Fenerbahce hold a dismal recent record against English teams, losing six of their last nine such games that have been played.

Since the 2007-08 Champions League quarter-finals, their only success came against Manchester United by a 2-1 scoreline in the 2016-17 Europa League.

Fenerbahce were 2-0 ahead on familiar territory before the hour mark, with what proved to be a consolation goal from Wayne Rooney coming in the 89th minute.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce have lost four of the most recent six first-leg games that they have played in Europe.

Furthermore, when they have suffered defeat in the first leg of a two-match tie, they have been eliminated on all 26 occasions.

© Imago / Seskim Photo TR

Will Forest be concerned about Fenerbahce's form?

Since losing 1-0 to Aston Villa on January 22, Fenerbahce have put together a six-match unbeaten streak.

Most notably, Domenico Tedesco's side have won four games in a row, netting exactly three goals in the most recent triple-header against Erzurumspor, Genclerbirligi and Trabzonspor.

However, at a time when Forest were generally struggling for goals under Sean Dyche, Fenerbahce have kept just one clean sheet in eight matches.