Nottingham Forest will aim to take a big step towards survival in the Premier League by continuing their excellent recent record against Chelsea on Monday.
Forest will be in high spirits after beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
With four days to recover from that game, Forest have reason to hope for a big result against Chelsea, who are playing their first league game since Liam Rosenior’s dismissal.
If Tottenham can pull off an unlikely win at Aston Villa on Sunday, Forest will go into the game just two points clear of the bottom three.
In the most likely scenario of a Spurs defeat at Villa Park, Forest would have the chance to move eight points clear of the drop zone and all but secure their Premier League status next season with a win at Chelsea.
Recent history favors Forest, as they are unbeaten in their three visits to Stamford Bridge since returning to the Premier League in 2022.
However, Chelsea were boosted in their first second-half spell under Calum McFarlane in charge of last Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United. Enzo Fernandez scored one goal in the game which sent them to the final against Manchester City.
Chelsea will be looking to boost their hopes of a top-six finish, with their hopes of a top-five finish likely dashed following their poor results in the league.
The Buccaneers have lost their last five games in the league without scoring a goal. Chelsea have not lost six in a row since November 1993, and have not lost six in a row without scoring in their league history.
Despite this poor run, McFarlane insists Chelsea’s morale is high.
“It [the mood within the squad] It’s really good,” said McFarlane in a press conference before the game.
“Football is a business of results, and when you lose, it feels like everything is worse in the world. And when you win, it feels amazing.
“So, the situation has changed after breaking the recent losing streak. I thought we did really well against Leeds at times, which is another good thing. We showed different aspects of our game that we’re really happy with, and we need to try to continue that and stick to the processes that brought that performance.”
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest team news
Reece James (hamstring) and Levi Colwill, who has missed the entire season with a knee injury, could return to Chelsea.
Filip Jorgensen (groin), Estevao and Jamie Gittens (both hamstring) will miss out for the Blues.
Forest were without Murillo, Jair Cunha, Dan Ndoye and Ibrahim Sangaré against Villa and the quartet could be seen at Stamford Bridge. Callum Hudson-Odoi is out for the season.
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest predicted lineup
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Adarbioyo, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Neto; Pedro.
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Aina, Morato, Milenkovic, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Wood.
Where to watch Chelsea v Nottingham Forest: TV and online streams
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest kicks off at 3:00pm on Monday. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. Available to stream on Sky Go.
If you’re watching from outside the UK, click HERE for details of channels showing the game in your area.
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest stats
- Chelsea are looking to complete the Premier League double by beating Forest for the second time, after the 1998-99 campaign.
- Forest have lost just two of their eight Premier League games away to Chelsea (W2 D4), and are unbeaten on all visits to Stamford Bridge since returning to the competition in 2022 (W1 D2).
- Chelsea won 1-0 and 3-0 in their last two league games against Forest – only between April and August 1966 did they win three in a row against Forest.
- Forest are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games (W3 D3), with only Brighton and Hove Albion (16) having collected more points since the start of March than their 12. Indeed, they have scored 3+ goals in three of their last four league games, more times than in their previous 29 games.
- Only West Ham (15) have scored more goals from corners in the Premier League this season than Chelsea (11), and only West Ham (5) and Liverpool (4) have scored more goals from corners than Nottingham Forest since Vitor Pereira’s debut in February (3).
- Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White’s 16 goals in the Premier League is already his best return to a top-flight campaign (13 goals, 3 assists), beating his 15 in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- Twelve of his 16 have come in 2026, with only Bruno Fernandes (15) having recorded more since the start of the year.
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest prediction
Forest did a great job against Villa in Europe, but that kind of effort may have taken too much out of them. Chelsea have their confidence back and are ready to take advantage and end their rotten run.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Nottingham Forest
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