Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs Nottingham Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest conclude their pre-season training camp in Portugal with a friendly against Sporting Lisbon.

The match will take place on Friday evening, nearly nine hours after Forest face another Portuguese outfit, Portimonense.

Match preview

Sporting have started their pre-season schedule with three consecutive victories, including an impressive 4-1 win over Scottish champions Celtic.

They then hammered Strasbourg 7-0 before they recorded a 2-0 victory in Saturday's meeting with Monaco, which came courtesy of goals from Rafael Nel and Jesse Derry.

Derry has joined on a season-long loan from Chelsea as one of Sporting's seven summer additions, along with Ibrahima Ba, Silas Andersen, Pedro Lima, Issa Doumbia, Sergi Altimira and Rodrigo Zalazar.

However, there have also been a number of key departures, including Francisco Trincao to Al-Ahli, Morten Hjulmand to Atletico Madrid and Geovany Quenda to Chelsea.

Sporting are also set to lose Ousmane Diomande to Friday's opponents, so Sporting will surely be looking to make more additions if they are to challenge for the Primeira Liga title after finishing six points adrift of winners Porto last term.

The friendly with Forest represents the club's final pre-season outing before the new season starts with an away game against Estrela on August 8, the first of seven league matches before the international break.

Forest will be hoping for better fortunes under new boss Oliver Glasner after experiencing a tumultuous 2025-26 campaign that saw them go through four different managers.

Nuno Espirito Santos, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche all spent time in charge before owner Evangelos Marinakis turned to Vitor Pereira in February.

The Portuguese coach guided the Tricky Trees to safety, but he was somewhat harshly dismissed at the end of the season, as Marinakis spotted the opportunity to appoint Oliver Glasner following his exit from Crystal Palace.

While Elliot Anderson has departed for Manchester City in a £116m deal, Forest have made just one new addition at the time of writing, recruiting midfielder Xaver Schlager from RB Leipzig on a free transfer.

Forest's recruitment team will look to make further additions while Glasner focuses on the six friendlies before the start of the season, including two games on Friday and two 45-minute affairs against Udinese and Barcelona on August 8.

The Tricky Trees have made an unbeaten start to their pre-season schedule, recording a 2-0 win over local rivals Notts County before starting their training camp in Portugal with a 3-0 victory against Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

Forest then played out a 1-1 draw in Sunday's clash against Primeira Liga outfit Vitoria de Guimaraes, which saw Igor Jesus netting his third goal in three games.

Sporting Lisbon friendlies form:

W W W

Nottingham Forest friendlies form:

W W D

Team News

Diomande will not feature due to the fact that he could be a Forest player by the time the two teams meet on Friday evening.

Eduardo Quaresma, who recently signed a contract extension until 2031, could start in a back four alongside Georgios Vagiannidis, Eduardo Felicissimo and Maxi Araujo.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Nel could be given the chance to lead the line after finding the net against Monaco at the weekend.

As for Forest, their lineup will depend on which players start the friendly against Portimonense earlier in the day, which means there is great uncertainty about the make-up of the XI for the meeting with Sporting.

Swiss forward Dan Ndoye is still on his summer break after helping his country make the World Cup quarter-finals.

Forest recently announced a new contract for Ibrahim Sangare, who has linked up with his teammates following his involvement in Ivory Coast's World Cup campaign, although it remains to be seen whether he will be ready to feature in either of Friday's games.

Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup:

Virginia; Vagiannidis, Quaresma, Felicissimo, Araujo; Altimira, Doumbia; Geny, Zalazar, Goncalves; Nel

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato; Aina, Dominguez, Schlager, Williams; Gibbs-White, McAtee; Jesus

We say: Sporting Lisbon 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Forest will face a tricky test against one of Portugal's biggest sides, and while they are yet to lose in pre-season, they go against a team that has won three consecutive friendlies, so we think the Tricky Trees may find it difficult to get the win on Friday.

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