**Date:** Saturday 18th October 2025
**Venue**: The City Ground
**Kick-off:** 12:30 BST
Thankfully that international break is over but with players continuing to carry more injuries than a clumsy toddler in a Lego factory, our trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest now feels more like an A&E on tour, with half the squad held together by tape, hope, and a wing and a prayer for today’s lunchtime kick-off.
Chelsea are back doing their best Jekyll and Hyde impression in the Premier League. Last time out against Liverpool, the physios covered more ground than the front three, our winless streak of three games felt like a full-blown crisis—and so, in classic fashion, we somehow nicked an unexpected win. Cue Caicedo submitting his application for goal of the season, Gakpo promptly crashed the party with an equaliser, and then, out of nowhere in the 97th minute, Estevao arrived like a takeaway you’d forgotten you’d ordered—classic, chaotic Chelsea. Why do things sensibly when it has far less impact on the blood pressure?
The weekly red card ritual continued, but this time it was Maresca who got his marching orders for charging down the touchline like he’d just banked a EuroMillions jackpot—no extra suspensions for the players, just a manager now officially on the FA’s blacklist for the cardinal sin of celebrating.
So, it’s Forest at the City Ground this afternoon, and our away form is verging on the miraculous—if by miracle you mean points performing a disappearing act. Three wins in 14? You’d need the blind faith of a raffle winner to keep smiling with stats like that. As for Forest—well, Postecoglou is about as welcome as a bad smell at the City Ground and they couldn’t buy a win, which almost guarantees they’ll suddenly remember how to play football the minute we step on the pitch.
Football, eh? The only sport where hope is a tactic and chaos is a tradition.
**MANAGER’S VIEWS**
Going into today’s game, Nottingham Forest manager, Ange Postecoglou, says _“Maybe I’m not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job, but maybe I’m a manager where, if given time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same – me with a trophy. You can look at these first five weeks and say ‘he is under pressure because he was lucky to get this job’. Or you can look at it and say there has been a major change. I am trying to change the way we play. The players are adapting but there’s been inconsistency in there for sure. But some will look at the weeds, I will look at what’s growing. The flip side is I’m really still excited about the opportunity here. That’s how I’m embracing it. I have a group of young players who are willing to change, that’s the first thing. I’m heading down that road. It’s always important to win the next game irrespective of what’s happened previously. It’s no different tomorrow. We’re facing a very good opponent but we’re here at home which is good and we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’ve had a good couple of weeks training with the guys who were with us here. We had a few on international duty but they came back in good condition and they are ready to play.”_
Enzo Maresca, meanwhile, says _“When we analyse a team, we consider everything. You have to go match by match. It’s always different. For sure, in the international break we watched all the games with Ange in charge. Making changes is something you usually plan but it is sometimes dependent on the game, you can do more changes or less, I think especially now with the amount of games that we have from now on, we need to think about change, not only during the game, but also in terms of starting level.”_
**SQUAD NEWS**
For Nottingham Forest, Ola Aina (hamstring) is out and Douglas Luiz (hamstring) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin) uncertain.
For Chelsea, the treatment room is starting to look like the Christmas party nobody wanted an invite to. Levi Colwill (ACL), Liam Delap (hamstring), Benoit Badiashille (muscle), Dario Essugo (thigh), and Cole Palmer (groin) are all out—presumably swapping injury horror stories and comparing crutches. Mykhaylo Mudryk is still on the naughty step with his ban. And just to add to the suspense, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Pedro Neto all have a ‘maybe, maybe not’ status. On the bright side, Trevoh Chalobah is back from suspension—so at least someone remembers what grass looks like!
**TEAMS**
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (Possible line-up): Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Sanchez; James, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Garnacho, Estevao, Neto; Joao Pedro
**LAST SEASON**
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Chelsea (25th May 2025)
**CURRENT FORM**
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: DLLDLL
CHELSEA: WWDLLW
**OTHER STUFF**
* Forest have managed just one win in their last eight Premier League scraps with Chelsea – probably still celebrating that one from September 2023!
* Chelsea have won three of their last four Premier League away games against Nottingham Forest.
* Chelsea have never put together three away league victories on the trot against Forest – so history’s watching closely.
* Forest have lost four of their last five league games, forgetting where the net is in each defeat
* Chelsea have only picked up three wins from their last 14 away days in the league – not exactly striking fear in the hearts of the hosts, are they?
**PREDICTION**
[Sportsmole](Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups - Sports Mole): Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea