Utrecht v Nottingham Forest: Line-ups, stats and preview

Utrecht v Nottingham Forest preview

Nottingham Forest continue their push for a place in the Europa League last 16 when they travel to the Netherlands to face Utrecht at Stadion Galgenwaard on Thursday night.

Both sides enter the fixture looking to recover from weekend setbacks, with Forest beaten at Everton and Utrecht taking a point from FC Twente.

Forest arrived in November with momentum after a run of three wins in which they scored three goals in each match against Leeds United, Liverpool and Malmo.

The Premier League schedule has since been more mixed, producing two defeats in their last three league matches. A narrow win over Wolves was followed by a 3-0 loss at Everton, a result that dropped Forest to 17th and kept them only two points above the relegation zone.

Sean Dyche expressed his frustration with the performance at Goodison Park and will expect a stronger display in the Netherlands.

Away form, however, remains a concern. Forest have won only two of their 11 away matches in all competitions this season, with four draws and five losses, including two Europa League draws against Real Betis and Sturm Graz.

This is Forest’s first European campaign in 30 years, and they have taken eight points from their opening five league phase fixtures. They sit 16th in the overall table, two points behind the top seven and four behind first place, with games against Utrecht, Braga and Ferencvaros remaining.

Importantly, they have not conceded a goal in Europe since Dyche took charge and have a positive record against Dutch clubs, winning three of their previous four meetings. Forest have not won a match in the Netherlands since a 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in 1983.

Utrecht, returning to the Europa League for the first time in 14 years, have found this season’s competition difficult.

They are still searching for their first win after collecting one point from their opening five fixtures. A home draw with Porto preceded a narrow defeat at Real Betis, leaving Utrecht in 32nd place and five points off the playoff positions with fixtures remaining against Forest, Genk and Celtic.

Utrecht v Nottingham Forest team news

Utrecht remain without midfielder Davy van den Berg due to injury, while Victor Jensen, Noah Ohio, Emirhan Demircan and Kolbeinn Finnsson are all unavailable because they were not included in the Europa League squad.

Barkas Vasileios is eligible to return in goal after serving a suspension. Souffian El Karouani completed 90 minutes against FC Twente and may keep his place at left-back. Sebastien Haller has one goal in 19 appearances this season and faces competition from Dani de Wit and David Min for the starting role in attack.

Nottingham Forest remain without Ola Aina, Douglas Luiz, Taiwo Awoniyi, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Dilane Bakwa, Chris Wood and Angus Gunn. Gunn and Awoniyi are also ineligible along with Omari Hutchinson and Jair Cunha, who were not selected for the European squad.

Ryan Yates is unlikely to feature after being taken off shortly after coming on against Everton. Nicolas Dominguez is expected to partner Ibrahim Sangare in midfield.

Murillo has missed the last three matches with a hamstring issue and illness and is a doubt, so Morato may continue alongside Nikola Milenkovic at the back.

Utrecht v Nottingham Forest predicted lineups

Utrecht: Barkas; Horemans, Van de Hoorn, Viergever, El Karouani; Bozdogan, Ongena, De Wit; Rodriguez, Min, Cathline

Nottingham Forest: Victor; Abbott, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Dominguez, Sangare; Ndoye, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi; Kalimuendo

How to watch Utrecht v Nottingham Forest: TV channel, online live streams

Kick-off on Thursday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports 1 and the discovery+ app.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Utrecht v Nottingham Forest stats

• This is the first match between the teams
• Utrecht’s only previous matches against an English team are a pair of 0-0 draws against Liverpool in the 2010/11 Europa League group stage
• They have lost only one of their last 17 European matches at home (W7 D9)
• Midfielder Alonzo Engwanda had made the joint-fifth most tackles (14) of any player in this season’s competition after Matchweek 5
• Behind Feyenoord (18), Utrecht (17) have taken the second-most home points in this season’s Eredivisie, winning five and losing one of their eight games
• Forest have won three of their four matches against Dutch teams (L1)
• The most recent of those came against PSV in the second round of the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, Forest winning 2-1 in Eindhoven and 1-0 in Nottingham
• The Premier League side have lost three of their last 12 European matches (W5 D4)
• None of Forest’s last three Europa League opponents have scored against them
• Only Lyon (88.6%), Celta and Aston Villa (both 88.2%) and GNK Dinamo (86.6%) had achieved a higher passing accuracy than Forest (86.4%) before Thursday’s matches

Utrecht v Nottingham Forest prediction

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