Nottingham Forest meet Midtjylland in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in 2025-26 UEFA Europa League.
Forest eliminated Fenerbahce in their Knockout Play-Off tie to set up this tie, whilst Midtjylland bypassed that stage due to a third-placed finish in the League Phase.
Team News
Stefan Ortega is set to be available for Forest following his recovery from a calf injury.
Willy Boly, Nicolo Savona, John Victor and Chris Wood (all knee) remain absent.
Midtjylland will be without Franculino and Mikel Gogorza due to unspecified injuries.
Dario Osorio is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards in the League Phase.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest host Midtjylland at the City Ground on Thursday 12 March at 8pm GMT, live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest lost their only previous meeting against Midtjylland which came in October 2025 in the League Phase.
- Midtjylland won 3-2 in their only previous trip to Forest earlier this season.
- Three of Igor Jesus’ seven goals for Forest in this season’s Europa League have been scored at home.
- Midtjylland kept just one clean sheet in their four away games in the League Phase (W2, D1, L1).
Prediction
Having had a week to prepare for this match following their entertaining fightback from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Manchester City, Forest hopefully should right up for this match especially with a desire to atone for their home defeat in October.
Midtjylland meanwhile don’t really do defensive clean sheets on the road in Europe this season but their attacking quality is a big part of why they bypassed the knockout play-offs, so I expect them to be right up for this without Franculino who is one of their top goalscorers.
Nevertheless Forest have got their attacking spark back and would of learned from their clash last October so I expect this to be much closer and wouldn’t be surprised if this leg ends level.
Prediction: Forest 1-1 Midtjylland
Result: Forest 0-1 Midtjylland