Nottingham Forest vs Bayer Leverkusen
Pre-season preparations continue at the City Ground on Wednesday when Premier League side Nottingham Forest are set to entertain Bundesliga title hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen.
In less than two weeks Forest will open their Premier League campaign with a clash at home to Leeds United and they have struggled in pre-season under new boss Oliver Glasner and, after flirting with relegation for much of last season the Tricky Trees could do with a result to give their home fans something to cheer, particularly as they have sold their best player over the summer, albeit for a handsome fee.
To beat Leverkusen is much easier said or written than done. Under their new head coach, Carles Martinez Novell, Bayer have looked sharp in pre-season and have a squad packed with experience and quality. This clash will be well worth a watch, and I expect to see a good crowd at the City Ground on a sunny evening as Glasner tries to solve a puzzle.
Talking Points
Glasner has his work cut out at Forest
With a 16th place finish last season and a less than inspiring summer transfer window, at the time of writing, Forest are more likely to be embroiled in a relegation battle than they are a chase for European places…in my opinion. Premier League newcomers Coventry City, Ipswich Town and particularly Hull City are in for a huge test as promoted teams always are, but they will take hope from Sunderland and Leeds United who both survived last term and are very likely to be in the mix again this year. The Black Cats are actually the fourth favourites to take the drop, despite finishing seventh last term and winning European football.
Losses to Sporting Lisbon, Udinese and Barcelona over their last three outings have not cheered the mood in the Midlands and while these are club friendly games the performances matter, and against Lisbon particularly Forest fell short. And in one of the biggest Premier League 2026 news stories of the summer so far, the Tricky Trees have sold England star Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for a whopping £116m.
Between 2024 to 2026 Glasner coached Crystal Palace, when the Eagles won the FA Cup, the club’s first ever major trophy and followed that up with the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference League. But Glasner publicly fell out with the club’s owners and has joined an outfit with possibly the most unpredictable owner of the lot in Evangelos Marinakis. So far Glasner has brought in Xavier Schlager from Red Bull Leipzig, he managed the Austrian international when they were both at VfL Wolfsburg. And this week, Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande is travelling to the UK to complete a move to Forest, who are reported to be paying £34m for his services.
Signings are important but, of the existing crop Morgan Gibbs White will a key player again this season. With 32 goals in 143 games for Forest the 26 year old is a match-winner and he has been appointed vice captain to midfielder Ryan Yates.
Novell looks at home in Leverkusen
With a successful pre-season behind him Bayer’s new man in the dugout, Novell is preparing Die Werkself for a tilt at the title and the latest Bundesliga 2026 betting odds say his team are third favourites behind champions Bayen Munich and 2026 runners up Borussia Dortmund.
Leverkusen beat Sevilla 2-1 last time out, coming back with a second half double from Patrik Schick after a period of relentless Leverkusen pressure; and on the evidence so far Novell can build on the modest progress made by the outgoing Kasper Hjulmand who steadied the ship after a chaotic start to the 2025/26 campaign. And Novell has leaders on the pitch who know the club inside out, skippered by Leverkusen stalwart Robert Andrich who operates at centre back or in a defensive midfield role, while 34 year old midfielder Jonas Hoffman is still an influential presence and Czech hitman Schick looks as lethal as ever.
Bayer still have some work to do in the transfer market, but Novell has a solid base to build on and, so far, he semes to be on the right track.
History
Bayer were Bundesliga champions in 2024 and runners up in 2025 though, in Europe their success has been limited with a Europa Cup win in 1988, and they were Champions league runners up in 2002.
Nottingham Forest were English champions under the legendary Brian Clough and Champions of Europe in 1979 and 1980. But their return to the Premier League in 2022 was their first season in the top flight this century.
In pre-season Forest have lost three, drawn one and won one of their five pre-season games while
Leverkusen have won all five of their matches.
Betting Tip
Forest are at SBOTOP odds of 3.20 to get a win in front of their fans with the Draw at 3.85; but I think Bayer will be up for this game, and with an extra week to prepare than Forest I think Novell’s team is already in a better place.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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