New Managers, Fresh Starts, Same Old Rivalry

Both of these clubs spent most of last season looking over their shoulders at the drop zone, and let's be honest — neither fanbase wants a repeat of that. Forest finished 16th with 44 points, just five clear of the bottom three, while Leeds ended up in 14th. On paper, it's a mid-table Premier League opener. In reality, it's two ambitious clubs under new leadership with a genuine point to make on the very first Saturday of the season.

The biggest story at the City Ground isn't even on the pitch — it's in the dugout. Oliver Glasner arrives from Crystal Palace, where he won the UEFA Conference League in 2025/26 after already lifting the FA Cup the season before. That's a trophy-winning pedigree that Forest haven't seen since the Brian Clough days, and the Austrian has wasted no time reshaping the squad. Ousmane Diomande arrived from Sporting CP to shore up the backline, while Xaver Schlager — carrying a SAM rating of 7.9/10 — slots into a midfield that desperately needed creativity and bite after Elliot Anderson's departure to Manchester City. The expected 3-4-2-1 system mirrors what Glasner used at Selhurst Park, and Morgan Gibbs-White (SAM: 8.6/10) is the engine that makes the whole thing tick. Throw in Dan Ndoye on the right flank (SAM: 8.0/10) and there's genuine width and pace to trouble any defence. The bad news: captain Ryan Yates misses out with a minor physical issue, and Nicolo Savona remains sidelined after suffering a setback in his recovery from knee surgery in March — a blow Glasner confirmed publicly earlier this week.

Daniel Farke's Leeds come in having had a genuinely impressive pre-season. They beat Sunderland and Liverpool in the States, defeated RB Leipzig at Elland Road, and closed things out with a 4-0 hammering of FC Augsburg. That kind of confidence matters on a season opener. Farke is expected to stick with the three-at-the-back system he reverted to midway through last season, and summer signing Tarik Muharemovic could make his full debut alongside Joe Rodon (SAM: 9.2/10) and Jayden Bogle (SAM: 9.1/10) in central defence. The midfield looks genuinely dangerous — Anton Stach (SAM: 9.2/10), Ethan Ampadu (SAM: 9.0/10), and Brenden Aaronson (SAM: 8.8/10) give Leeds real energy and quality through the middle. And then there's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (SAM: 8.7/10), who banged in 14 Premier League goals last season and scored against this exact opposition back in February, when Leeds won 3-1 at Elland Road. But Leeds arrive with their own injury list — Gabriel Gudmundsson (hamstring) and Willy Gnonto (thigh) are both out, and Lucas Perri is also nursing a problem. It's worth flagging too that Leeds have spent just over £80m strengthening this summer, which tells you everything about how seriously Farke is taking this campaign. The head-to-head across 90 meetings sits at Forest 33 wins, Leeds 31 — almost as even as it gets in English football — and crucially, both sides shared 3-1 victories over each other at their respective grounds last season.

This fixture also has an unusual bonus layer: the two clubs meet again at the City Ground just three days later in the EFL Cup second round, which gives Saturday's match an extra tactical edge. Neither manager will want to show too much of their hand. With all that context, both teams level on zero points and zero goals to start the new premier league season, the smart money is on a tight, competitive game. Forest have home advantage, a new manager with proven big-occasion credentials, and a squad that — on paper — is better constructed than last year's disaster. Glasner's side win this one. Gibbs-White grabs the goal that matters, and the City Ground gets its season off to the kind of start the fans have been waiting twelve months for.