Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea: Head-to-head

May's meeting at the City Ground saw a Levi Colwill goal earn the Blues a 1-0 win, Champions League qualification and consecutive league victories at Nottingham Forest for the first time in 103 years.

We have yet to achieve three straight league victories at the City Ground.

The Blues have won three of our previous four away league meetings at the City Ground (one draw). And our last defeat at Forest was in January 1997 when Ruud Gullit was in charge (0-2).

Forest have won just one of their last eight Premier League meetings with Chelsea (three draws, four defeats), a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in September 2023.

Four of Nottingham Forest’s seven Premier League goals against Chelsea since their return to the top flight in 2022/23 have come from set-pieces.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played 100
Won 42
Drawn 31
Lost 27

Biggest wins for each team:

Nottingham Forest 1-5 Chelsea | 1925/26 | Division Two
Chelsea 5-1 Nottingham Forest | 2017/18 | League Cup
Nottingham Forest 7-0 Chelsea | 1990/91 | Division One

Last five meetings at the City Ground

11 Jan 1997 - Premier League L 0-2
20 Feb 1999 - Premier League W 3-1 Forssell, Goldbaek 2
1 Jan 2023 - Premier League D 1-1 Sterling
11 May 2024 - Premier League W 3-2 Mudryk, Sterling, Jackson
25 May 2025 - Premier League W 1-0 Colwill

Chelsea stats

We are looking for our first Premier League away victory since defeating West Ham 5-1 on 22 August. Enzo Maresca's side have won three of our last 14 away games in the Premier League (four draws, seven defeats).

No Premier League club's matches this season have yielded more goals than Chelsea’s (22 – 13 for and nine against), with 13 of those coming in our away games (eight for, five against).

Chelsea have won each of our last six Premier League games kicking off at 12.30pm on a Saturday, including this season’s 2-0 home win over Fulham in August.

Half of Chelsea’s eight away goals in the Premier League this term have come from corners, equalling our total number of away goals from corners last term.

Moises Caicedo has made more tackles (28) and more interceptions (18) than any other player in the Premier League this season. He is also our joint top scorer with three goals.

When Estevao Wllian struck in the 95th minute against Liverpool, he became the youngest Brazilian player in history to score the winning goal in a Premier League match.

Chelsea continue to have the youngest starting XI in the Premier League, with an average age this season of 24 years and 137 days. Everton have the oldest at 28 years and 167 days

Premier League scorers: Caicedo 3, Fernandez 3 (1 pen), Chalobah 2, Joao Pedro 2, Estevao 1, Neto 1, Palmer 1

Premier League assists: Joao Pedro 3, Cucurella 2, Estevao 1, Fernandez 1, Gusto 1, James 1

Milestones

If selected, Reece James will be the first player in our current Chelsea squad to make his 200th appearance for the club.

Nottingham Forest stats

Last season

Premier League - seventh with 65 points, their highest finish since finishing third in 994/95, and qualified for the Europa League.
FA Cup - Lost 0-2 to Manchester City in the semi-final
Carabao Cup - Lost on penalties at home to Newcastle in the second round.
Top scorer (all competitions): Chris Wood (20)
Top Premier League scorer: Chris Wood (20)

This season’s Premier League stats

Most minutes played (max 630): Anderson 630, Milenkovic 630, Sels 630, Williams 630
Goals: Wood 2, Hudson-Odoi 1, Ndoye 1, Williams 1
Assists: Anderson 1, Gibbs-White 1, Ndoye 1

Nottingham Forest have lost six of their ten games in all competitions this season (one win, three draws). The Tricky Trees could fail to score in three consecutive matches in the top flight for the first time since April 1999.

They have been defeated in five of their past seven Premier League home matches (with one win and one draw), matching the number of losses from their previous 22 games at the City Ground.

Ange Postecoglou, who replaced Nuno Espirito Santo in September, has become the first permanent Forest manager for 100 years to fail to win any of his first seven games in charge of the club (two draws, five defeats).

No side have scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season than Nottingham Forest (five, equal with Wolves).

By finishing seventh last term, Forest qualified for Europe for the first time since 1995/96.

Elliot Anderson has won possession 55 times in the Premier League this season, more than any other top-flight player.

Last five results

Burnley (a) D 1-1
Real Betis (UEL a) D 2-2
Sunderland (h) L 0-1
Midtjylland (UEL h) L 2-3
Newcastle (a) L 0-2

Ange Postecoglou’s record v Chelsea

Won: 0
Drawn: 0
Lost: 4

Last Premier League line-up

Sunday 5 October
Newcastle United 2 Nottingham Forest 0
Team (3-4-3): Sels; Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato (Bakwa 77); Savona, Yates (c) (Hudson-Odoi 64), Anderson, Williams; Gibbs-White, Wood (Igor Jesus 64), Ndoye (Hutchinson 65)
Booked: Yates, Williams, Morato, Anderson

Discipline

There are no suspensions.

In the Premier League, five yellow cards received before 19 league fixtures have been completed will result in a one-match suspension in the competition.

Premier League yellow cards: 16

Cucurella 2, George 2, Hato 2, James 2, Caicedo 1, Chalobah 1, Badiashile 1, Estevao 1, Fernandez 1, Sanchez 1, Santos 1, Tosin 1

Match officials

Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistants: Dan Cook, Ian Hussin
Fourth official: Thomas Kirk
VAR: Peter Bankes
Assistant VAR: Blake Antrobus

Chris Kavanagh’s last Blues game was our 1-0 home win against Manchester United last May.