Nottingham Forest and Leeds United have been trading blows in English football’s top flight on and off since the earliest days of the Premier League, and the fixture has produced some genuinely memorable afternoons along the way.
Both clubs have spent time outside the top flight at various points, which has made their meetings feel like a reunion as often as a routine fixture.
Anyone checking Nottingham Forest vs Leeds odds for this fixture is watching two European Cup winning clubs whose paths have crossed regularly despite spending long spells apart in the divisions below.
Both clubs carry serious history from their peaks in the 1970s and 1990s, which is part of why this fixture still feels like more than just another midweek Premier League match to supporters on either side. Here are five of the meetings that stand out.
December 1992: Forest stun the champions
Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest travelled to Elland Road in the Premier League’s very first season and won 4-1 against a Leeds side still adjusting to life as reigning English champions.
It proved a rare bright spot in a miserable campaign for Forest, who were relegated at the end of that first Premier League season despite the shock away win, while Leeds endured a difficult defence of their title.
April 1996: a first away win in years
Nottingham Forest won 3-1 at Elland Road through goals from Colin Cooper, Ian Woan and Jason Lee, completing a league double over Leeds having already won 2-1 at the City Ground earlier that season courtesy of Kevin Campbell and a Bryan Roy penalty.
Forest finished ninth that season under Frank Clark, one of their better Premier League campaigns of the decade.
October 1996: Wallace inspires a reversal
Leeds turned the tables the following season, winning 2-0 at Elland Road thanks to a Rod Wallace double.
For those tracking betting promotions around fixtures with this kind of back-and-forth history, the result was an early sign of a miserable campaign for Forest, who were relegated that season having sat bottom of the table by Christmas, while Leeds finished a respectable 11thunder George Graham.
November 2025: Gibbs-White ends the drought
After years apart in different divisions, the sides met again following Leeds’ return to the Premier League, with Forest winning 3-1 at the City Ground behind a strong performance from Morgan Gibbs-White.
The win snapped a winless run for Forest that had stretched back to the opening weekend of the season, a timely response after Gibbs-White had been left out of the latest England squad.
February 2026: Leeds turn the tables again
Leeds gained revenge at Elland Road three months later, winning 3-1 through goals from Jayden Bogle, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with playmaker Ilia Gruev setting up two of the goals.
Manager Daniel Farke singled out Gruev’s display for special praise afterwards, part of a strong run of form that helped Leeds establish themselves in mid-table during their first season back in the top flight.
These five results show a fixture that has rarely settled into a predictable pattern, and with the two sides level on goals scored against each other across their entire history, this season’s meeting looks just as difficult to call as ever.
RELATED ARTICLES
