Fenerbahce vs Nottingham Forest Predictions

• Fenerbahce are on a four-game winning run
• Nottingham Forest have five defeats in their last nine away games
• Fener have beaten Stuttgart and Nice at home in the Europa League

Baptism of fire for Forest boss Pereira

Vitor Pereira will oversee his first game in charge of Nottingham Forest on Thursday as they take on Fenerbahce in the Europa League play-offs in Turkey.

Pereira had two spells in charge of Fener during a period where he managed five clubs in eight years, leaving them most recently in 2021. Premier League survival is obviously the top target for the new Forest boss but he will still be looking for a positive result in his opening assignment, although while they have enough quality to win the tie they may have to recover a first-leg deficit to progress.

Fener are in strong form with four successive wins across all competitions. They’ve also picked up some notable victories at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in the Europa League, beating both Germany’s Stuttgart and Nice of Ligue 1 during the league phase. Domenico Tedesco’s side did go down 1-0 to Aston Villa in their last European game at this venue but on the balance of play they were unlucky not to take a point.

The Turkish club are unbeaten at home in the Super Lig this season, with seven wins from 10 games, while Forest have travelled poorly in all competitions and have five defeats in their last nine trips. Pereira’s arrival does make this game tougher to predict but taking Fener’s home form and European results into account a win for the hosts looks the best option.

Fener’s games tend to be high-scoring as over 2.5 goals has been a winning bet in each of their last three games, while they have gone four games without a clean sheet at home. Forest produced a limp attacking display in a bore draw with Wolves, a result that cost Sean Dyche his job, and should be looking for improvements in the final third and they can at least get on the scoresheet in Istanbul. This is likely to be a close game and a tight tie overall, so a 2-1 Fener win seems a reasonable correct score prediction.