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

Nottingham Forest welcome FC Midtjylland to the City Ground for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night.

The Tricky Trees will be out for revenge against their Danish opponents after suffering a 3-2 home defeat in the League Phase in October under former boss Ange Postecoglou.

Match preview

Competing in European competition for the first time in three decades, Nottingham Forest were unable to qualify automatically for the Europa League last 16 and instead entered the knockout round playoffs after finishing 13th in the League Phase, winning four, drawing two and losing two of their eight matches.

The Tricky Trees were presented with, on paper, a challenging two-legged clash with Turkish giants Fenerbahce, but under the guidance of new head coach Vitor Pereira, they recorded a 4-2 aggregate victory, with a surprise 3-0 first-leg away triumph followed by a 2-1 home loss in the return fixture.

Forest have since seen their winless run in all competitions extended to four matches, with a 2-1 defeat at Brighton in the Premier League followed by a respectable 2-2 draw with title hopefuls Man City a week last Wednesday, leaving them hovering above the relegation zone only by goal difference.

Premier League survival is a priority for Forest, but progressing future in the Europa League is also desired, as the endeavour to reach the quarter-finals of any European competition for the first time since the 1995-96 UEFA Cup.

Replicating the European glory days under Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980 is the ultimate dream, but Pereira will be keen to take one step at a time and an upturn in form on home soil is required, as the Tricky Trees have won only one of their last eight games at the City Ground (D3 L4).

Midtjylland have been one of the surprise packages in the Europa League this season, as they accumulated 19 points from eight League Phase fixtures to finish third in the 36-team table and qualify automatically for the last 16.

Victories over Forest, Sturm Graz, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Celtic, Genk and Dinamo Zagreb, as well as a draw with Brann, were posted between September and January, with a 2-1 away defeat to Roma representing the only blot on their copybook thus far.

Since the conclusion of the League Phase, Mike Tullberg’s side have enjoyed a five-game unbeaten run on the domestic front, picking up seven points in three Danish Superliga matches (W2 D1) to stay four points behind the summit, while also beating their title rivals Aarhus GF 2-1 on aggregate to reach to Danish Cup final, including a 1-1 second-leg draw last weekend.

Midtjylland’s focus now shifts back to the Europa League, and excluding qualifiers, they have come up against English opposition five times in major European competition – on two occasions they have prevailed, once against Forest and the other against Louis van Gaal’s Man United (2-1) in the first leg of a last-32 Europa League tie in February 2016.

Nottingham Forest Europa League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

FC Midtjylland Europa League form:

FC Midtjylland form (all competitions):

Team News

Nottingham Forest will be without Chris Wood, Nicolo Savona, John Victor and Willy Boly (all knee) due to injury, while January signing Luca Netz is ineligible after being omitted from the club’s Europa League squad.

Fellow new recruit Stefan Ortega will be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing last week’s Premier League draw with Man City due to a calf problem. Matz Sels is ready to continue between the sticks if needed.

Pereira could recall Callum Hudson-Odoi and Omari Hutchinson if he wishes to revert to a formation with natural wingers, while Igor Jesus will hope to continue up front – the Brazilian is the joint-top scorer in the Europa League this term with seven goals in eight games.

As for Midtjylland, top scorer Franculino has netted 21 goals so far this season, but he will miss Thursday’s game due to injury along with Mikel Gogorza, while winger Dario Osorio is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Junior Brumado and Gue-sung Cho are both in contention to start in attack with Aral Simsir, while ex-Fulham full-back Kevin Mbabu and former Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing could both retain their places in the first XI.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

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

FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:

Olafsson; Erlic, Bech Sorensen, Diao; Mbabu, Billing, Castillo, Bak; Simsir; Cho, Brumado

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-2 FC Midtjylland

Goals are to be expected between these two teams, given that 3+ goals have been scored in seven of Forest’s Europa League games and five of Midtjylland’s, including the five goals netted in the latter’s victory over the former earlier this season.

Forest are well aware of the threat that Midtjylland are set to pose in the final third, but we are backing Pereira’s men to claim at least a share of the spoils on this occasion.

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