Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United opens the Premier League season at the City Ground on Saturday 22 August, and it doubles as Oliver Glasner’s first competitive match as Forest head coach. The Austrian arrived from Crystal Palace in early July, inheriting a club rebuilt almost from scratch.
The context is a chaotic 2025-26: four managers, a 16th-place finish and, despite a Europa League semi-final run, no European football this season. The squad Glasner names on Saturday will look markedly different: Elliot Anderson was sold to Manchester City for a club-record £116m in July, and the money has been recycled into Ousmane Diomande from Sporting for a reported £34.3m, Xaver Schlager on a free from RB Leipzig and goalkeeper Steven Benda from Fulham. On Monday, Reuters reported that Taiwo Awoniyi had completed a move to Coventry City, thinning the forward line five days out.
What to expect from Glasner’s first Forest team
Morgan Gibbs-White captains the side and remains the most likely source of the Reds’ invention, with Chris Wood the senior centre-forward now Awoniyi has gone and Dan Ndoye, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Arnaud Kalimuendo competing for the places around him. Diomande’s arrival gives Glasner another ball-playing option alongside Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic at the back.
Both camps have selection questions. The Yorkshire Evening Post reported early injury news for both squads on Monday, while Goal.com published its own Forest-Leeds preview. Glasner has indicated Forest are not finished in the market, with the window open until deadline day.
A City Ground opener against Leeds is exactly the sort of night the Tricky Trees will relish after last season. Confirmed team news follows later in the week. Keep up with it in our Nottingham Forest news coverage.
