Brentford vs Nottingham Forest preview, team news, h2h: Ola Aina seeks to end EPL drought

Brentford vs Nottingham Forest is one of the clashes to look forward to as the Premier League returns after the midweek interruption of the EFL Cup.

Ola Aina and mates head to the Gtech Community Stadium in search of only their second league win of the season.

The Super Eagles defender managed three goals and two assists in his first two season at Nottingham Forest but failed to make a goal contribution in 18 league appearances last term. The former Torino man will want to end that drought against Brentford on Saturday.

Aina’s primary focus will be in helping Forest keep a clean sheet, though. gives this fixture its Nigerian hook. He is set to return to Nottingham Forest’s back three, with the possibility of filling the left-sided centre-back slot rather than his more familiar right-sided role. That potential switch says plenty about how short Oliver Glasner is on settled options there.

Brentford vs Nottingham Forest is slated for the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, October 31, in matchweek nine of the Premier League, with kickoff at 4 o’clock in the afternoon Nigerian time.

Keith Andrews’ side sit sixth on eleven points but have won only one of their last seven league matches, while Glasner’s Forest arrive with the division’s joint-fewest goals and a manager still waiting for his rebuild to click.

Brentford’s stall meets Nottingham Forest’s goal drought

Brentford’s problem is finishing matches off, not starting them. Keith Andrews’ side have scored first in eight of their last ten league games but failed to win five of those.

That pattern has deepened into a run of one win in seven, with three draws and a loss in their last five Premier League outings. They beat Chelsea three-nil in the league just before the international break, then lost 3-2 to Sunderland in the EFL Cup fourth round and followed that exit with a flat one-all draw at home to Hull City.

Nottingham Forest’s numbers are starker. Eighteenth in the table with one win all season, Oliver Glasner’s side have managed only six league goals, joint-fewest in the division, and every single one of them has come on the road.

At the City Ground, Forest have not scored in a single home league fixture this season. Glasner’s own description of the project after a one-all draw at Ipswich was that his team is still waiting for things to click.

Head-to-head: Brentford vs Nottingham Forest record

Forest have the upper hand in recent meetings, winning three of the last five against Brentford, including both of last season’s Premier League fixtures: a 3-1 win at the City Ground in August 2025 and a two-nil win at the Gtech in January 2026.

Brentford’s two wins in that run came in January 2024 (3-2 at home) and May 2025 (two-nil away). Looking at Premier League meetings only since both clubs returned to the top flight, the record is tied at three wins apiece with two draws from eight games, though Forest have won the last two outright.

The all-time record across every competition is close to even too, with Brentford ahead 16 wins to 15 and eleven draws from 42 meetings.

Schade and Ndoye: The star man duel in Brentford vs Nottingham Forest

Kevin Schade is Brentford’s leading scorer with three goals from seven appearances, and his form has reportedly drawn genuine interest from both Liverpool and Manchester United even though his contract runs to 2028.

Dan Ndoye is the nearest thing Forest have to an attacking focal point, the only player in the squad with more than one Premier League goal this season, scoring both of his from eight appearances without finishing on the losing side when he finds the net.

Brentford vs Nottingham Forest managers: Andrews versus Glasner

Keith Andrews has been in charge at Brentford since June 2025 and signed a new long-term contract this year, giving him the kind of stability his opposite number can only envy.

Oliver Glasner has been Forest’s head coach since July 6, taking over as the club’s fifth permanent appointment in under a year after owner Evangelos Marinakis moved on from Vitor Pereira.

Glasner arrived with genuine pedigree, having won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Conference League at Crystal Palace, and said on joining that it was evident Forest had a clear vision for the club. Marinakis called him simply a winner. Four months in, the results have not yet matched the billing.

Brentford vs Nottingham Forest: Tactical preview

Brentford’s 4-2-3-1 leans on Kevin Schade and Dango Ouattara stretching the play wide while Mathias Jensen links into Igor Thiago. But their defence has been generous at the other end, allowing Forest’s away goal threat a route back into games even when Brentford start on top.

Forest’s back three under Glasner is built to control possession through Morgan Gibbs-White and James McAtee centrally, with Daniel Muñoz, the club’s marquee summer signing at right wing-back, offering their most reliable outlet going forward.

The one open question in that shape is the opposite wing-back slot, genuinely unsettled between Lewis Netz, Ola Aina and an injury-doubt Neco Williams, and whoever starts there will face a direct battle with Keane Lewis-Potter and Brentford’s overlapping full-back runs.

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