Nottingham Forest v Coventry City preview

Recent form points one way

Forest have drawn themselves level after a difficult start, taking one win, two draws and two defeats from their opening fixtures. Their recent matches show signs of steadying: a win over Aston Villa following draws against Liverpool and Tottenham.

Coventry's campaign has gone the other way. Recent matches show one win followed by four straight defeats, the most recent a 5-0 loss to Brighton and a 3-1 reverse against Aston Villa in midweek. They have conceded ten goals more than they have scored across four matches, and a win here would only lift them to three points from five played, still short of where Forest already sit.

What the market expects

The market-implied probability has Forest as clear favourites, at 58.0 per cent to Coventry's 18.2 per cent, with the draw at 23.8 per cent. That assessment tracks the form and the table closely enough: Forest have stopped losing, Coventry have not started winning, and the gap between them is already wide for this stage of the season.

Forest won four of the five previous meetings listed, with one defeat, with thirteen goals across those matches. None of that history sits in this league season, but it adds context to a market that sees the home side as the likelier winner by some distance.

Confirmed line-ups

Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1): Matz Sels, Murillo, Jair Paula, Ousmane Diomande, James McAtee, Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams, Xaver Schlager, Dan Ndoye, Daniel Muñoz, Liam Delap

Coventry City (3-4-2-1): Carl Rushworth, Ethan Pinnock, Bobby Thomas, Stephen Mfuni, Ephron Mason-Clark, Caleb Yirenkyi, Jack Rudoni, Jay Da Silva, Frank Onyeka, Matt Grimes, Brandon Thomas-Asante

We are covering this one live. Follow it with us in the match centre for the line-ups when they land, the goals as they go in, and the full timeline.