Nottingham Forest vs Brentford Prediction and Betting Tips | 17th August 2025

Nottingham Forest and Brentford will look to kick on from where they left off last term as they clash at the City Ground on Sunday in their Premier League campaign opener. Both sides finished in the top half of the table last season, but much has changed throughout the summer at the two clubs.

Forest enjoyed an impressive run in the 2024-25 Premier League season and eventually finished seventh in the table. While they might be a little upset about having missed out on Champions League football after coming very close, the Tricky Trees have reason to feel content with their results.

With the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to demote Crystal Palace to the Conference League over rules relating to multi-club ownership, Forest have been promoted to the Europa League.

Nuno Espirito Santo and his men will look to make a statement against Brentford on Sunday and kick things off on the right note as they try to cement their position as a top-six contender.

Meanwhile, Brentford have quite a few concerns that ought to worry them considerably as we navigate the opening gameweek of the new Premier League campaign. Thomas Frank recently left his role as manager of the Bees to join Tottenham Hotspur after a seven-year stint at the club.

Bryan Mbeumo is another departure that could hurt Brentford. Yoanne Wissa, a standout performer in recent times, is also expected to leave the club. Suffice to say, Brentford's new coach, Keith Andrews, has his job cut out for him in his early days in the dugout.

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Nottingham Forest vs Brentford Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Nottingham Forest have only managed one win in their last eight league meetings with Brentford (three draws, four losses), a 2-0 away victory last December.
• Brentford have only lost twice in their last 10 league games against Forest (six wins and two draws). They are unbeaten in their last four trips to the City Ground (two wins and two draws).
• Forest haven’t won their opening league game in any of the past seven seasons (two draws and five losses). Their last opening-day win came back in 2017-18, when they beat Millwall 1-0 in the Championship.
• Brentford, on the other hand, have never lost their first game of a Premier League season (two wins and two draws). Interestingly, they’ve scored exactly two goals in each of those four matches.
• Forest’s home form has dipped recently – they’ve lost three of their last four Premier League games at the City Ground (one draw), compared to just two losses across their first 15 home games there last season (nine wins, four draws).

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Nottingham Forest vs Brentford Prediction

Forest looked shaky in pre-season and it will be a while before they settle into their groove. Despite some major absences, the Bees still have enough quality in their ranks to return home with a respectable result on Sunday.

Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Brentford

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Nottingham Forest vs Brentford Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Draw

Tip 2: Game to have under 2.5 goals - Yes

Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes