Nottingham Forest vs Leicester City Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Nottingham Forest enters this contest as firm favourites as they sit sixth in the Premier League with 61 points from 35 matches, a mere 40 points better off than their East Midlands rivals who have already been relegated back to the Championship.

In terms of head-to-head records, Nottingham Forest have won both of the last two meetings, with this season’s clash resulting in a 3-1 victory at the King Power Stadium back in October.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have the seventh-best home record in the Premier League as they have accumulated 31 points from 17 matches, while conceding just 13 times during those games. Leicester City’s away record is nothing short of embarrassing, as they have earned just nine points from 17 matches.

With Leicester scoring just 29 times in the Premier League and Forest having such a good defensive record at the City Ground, we are predicting that the hosts will win this game to nil.

Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Leicester City

On Sunday, Nottingham Forest hosts local rivals Leicester City in an East Midlands derby at the City Ground.

Date: 11/05/2025

Location: City Ground

Time: 2:15pm

The last meeting between these two sides resulted in a 3-1 win for Nottingham Forest on 25th October as Ryan Yates and Chris Wood (2) both got on the scoresheet for Forest while Jamie Vardy scored for the Foxes in the 23rd-minute of that game.

Meanwhile, the last head-to-head clash at the City Ground resulted in a damaging 2-0 loss for Leicester in January 2023 as they would ultimately be relegated to the Championship that season. Current Tottenham Hotspur striker Brennan Johnson scored a brace for Forest on that occasion.

Forest will be desperate not to slip-up here against their fierce rivals, as they are still in the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League, while a win here would see them qualify for European football for the first time since the 1995/96 season when they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup by German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

At present, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have 61 points from 35 matches, seeing them sit just two points off Chelsea, while being one point above seventh-place Aston Villa - showing just how little margin for error Forest have.

Leicester’s season has been dismal, as they are already relegated and are 19th in the standings with just 21 points from 35 matches. There is expected to be wholesale changes at the King Power Stadium in the summer, as Ruud van Nistelrooy has been rumoured to be on his way out, while Jamie Vardy has already confirmed his departure from the club. The 38-year-old has made 498 appearances for Leicester and has scored 199 times, there would be nothing more that he’d love than scoring his 200th Foxes goal at the City Ground to dent Forest’s hunt for Champions League football.

Nottingham Forest versus Leicester City will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra HDR.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest could be without two key figures for this game, as Murillo was forced off at Selhurst Park on Monday night with an injury, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is still recovering from a thigh issue.

Leicester City

Mads Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira, Facundo Buonanotte, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Issahaku Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi are all set to miss this clash due to injury.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest enters this game with just one with in their last five outings, with that sole victory coming via a 2-1 scoreline away at Tottenham Hotspur on 21st April, where Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood both got on the scoresheet.

Last time out, Forest scraped a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park as Murillo cleverly diverted a long-range strike from Neco Williams into the bottom right-hand corner after Eberechi Eze had given the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 60th-minute.

Their other results have been disappointing defeats to the likes of Brentford (2-0) and Everton (1-0) in the Premier League, on top of a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Leicester City

Leicester managed to beat bottom of the table Southampton 2-0 at the King Power Stadium last time out as Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew both scored well taken goals. That victory was the Foxes’ fifth in 35 Premier League matches.

Prior to that match, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men had suffered a 3-0 away defeat to Wolves, after further losses to Liverpool (1-0) and Newcastle United (3-0) on either side of a 2-2 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.

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