Nottingham Forest face Porto at the City Ground this evening with a place in the Europa League semi-finals on the line
18:53, 16 Apr 2026Updated 19:05, 16 Apr 2026
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira
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Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira(Image: PA)
Head coach Vitor Pereira has named his Nottingham Forest team to face Porto in this evening’s Europa League decider.
It is all to play for at the City Ground as the two sides battle for a place in the last four of the competition. It finished 1-1 in Portugal last week, setting things up nicely for a tasty quarter-final second leg.
The Reds are five unbeaten going into tonight’s game amid a positive impact made by Pereira since his appointment. Balancing the demands of pushing for European glory while fighting for survival in the Premier League continues to be the challenge for the Portuguese.
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His team drew 1-1 at home to Aston Villa at the weekend. Neco Williams’ equaliser clinched a big point for the hosts in their battle to avoid the drop.
He knows he has a huge clash to come against Burnley on Sunday. Forest are just three points above the relegation zone with six league games remaining.
With that in mind, the Reds boss has tended to rotate his players between the two competitions. He has made five changes to his starting XI from the weekend’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
Stefan Ortega, Jair Cunha, Nicolas Dominguez, Dan Ndoye and Chris Wood are the players to come into the line-up. They replace Matz Sels, Nikola Milenkovic, Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Igor Jesus.
Ortega will take his place between the posts behind a back four of Ola Aina, Jair, Murillo and Neco Williams. Dominguez will partner Ibrahim Sangare in the middle of the pitch.
Ndoye will join Morgan Gibbs-White and Omari Hutchinson in providing attacking support for front man Wood. The bench will be made up of Sels, Keehan Willows, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus, Lorenzo Lucca, Ryan Yates, James McAtee, Dilane Bakwa, Milenkovic, Zach Abbott and Jimmy Sinclair.
Ahead of kick-off, Forest confirmed midfielder Elliot Anderson would not be involved due to the death of his mother. The club said in a statement: “Elliot Anderson is unavailable for tonight’s fixture following the passing of his beloved mother, Helen.
“Everyone at Nottingham Forest Football Club extends its deepest condolences to Elliot and his family following this extremely sad news. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with the Anderson family at this difficult time.”
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Forest: Ortega; Aina, Jair, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Dominguez; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Wood. Subs: Sels, Willows, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus, Lucca, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Abbott, Sinclair.
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