By Trentside
August 12 2010

Forest look to gain three points from their first fixture at fortress City Ground. Newly promoted and brimming with confidence, Leeds United stand in their way. Nottingham Forest - 18th in Championship. Last Fixture: 0-1 (L) Burnley

*Yet to score in the league this season

*Suffered humiliating defeat to Bradford midweek in League Cup, although fielded significantly weakened side.

*Looking for first win.

*Bookies favourite, with Dexter Blackstock 11/2 first to score. (Bet365)

Leeds United - 16th in Championship. Last fixture: 1-2 (L) Derby County 

*Also looking for first win.

*Missing Beckford up-front

*Newly promoted

Venue: City Ground, Nottingham

Date: 15th Aug 2010

Brian Clough’s tenures at Nottingham Forest and Leeds United couldn’t have been more different. Despite huge success at former club Derby County, the legendary manager found it hard to emulate this at Leeds. He famously lasted only 44 days on the job.

However gone are the days when the two could class themselves as amongst the heavyweights of English footballing. Whilst the names of these two sides will always evoke memories of their glory days, it is a very different story at present.

Forest recently spent a dark spell in England’s third tier, and whilst the club managed a third-place finish in last season’s Championship, their lack of summer activity was hardly a signal of intent from a club which claims to be committed to “moving forward.” Whatever that means. They are yet to win a competitive fixture this season.

Leeds United themselves have just achieved promotion from League One and are heavily tipped by bookies as an outside bet to achieve a playoff position. Despite this, we can’t help but think of Leeds as a glorified League One side from which any confidence instilled is based solely on the clubs name. They begun their season with a loss at Forest’s rivals Derby County however will be feeling good about themselves following an easy 4-0 thrashing of Lincoln City in the League Cup.

Highly-rated forward Jermaine Beckford left for Everton following last season, relieving Forest of a significant goal threat. Kasper Schmeichal however, will be hoping to keep a clean sheet at the other end of the pitch. The Danish keeper is no stranger to Nottingham, having transferred from Notts County in the summer.

Whilst we would like to provide you with an in-depth preview, it is of course the very start of the season. As of yet we do not know who is going to perform and have no idea where we expect each side to be by the end of the season. It would be foolish to predict a result, as each team in the division looks to gather momentum, the result really could go either way!

Bet 365 Odds 

Nottm Forest 5/6  
Draw 12/5  
Leeds 7/2

LEEDS LAST FIXTURE

Leeds United 1 - 2 Derby County

Saturday, 7 August 2010

How did they line up?

01 Schmeichel
02 Connollyyellow card
05 Collins
06 Nayloryellow card
21 Bessone
08 Kilkenny (Clayton 77)
11 Sam (White 70)
14 Howsonyellow card (Grella 86)
16 Johnson
10 Becchio - GOALSCORER (16th minute)
18 Watt
Substitutes
12 Higgs, 04 Bruce, 26 Bromby, 32 White, 15 Clayton, 22 Hughes, 13 Grella

FOREST vs Leeds United - Match Preview

Discussion started by Trentside (IP Logged), 12/08/2010 12:52

Trentside
12/08/2010 12:52

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