Nottingham Forest welcome West Ham United to the City Ground in Round 3 of the Premier League on Sunday, August 31, 2025, at 4pm EAT. Referee Craig Pawson will oversee the fixture as both sides seek to gain early-season momentum in contrasting circumstances.
Forest enter the match unbeaten, sitting 5th in the table with four points from their opening two games. Their strong start includes a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace followed by a convincing 3-1 win over Brentford. Balanced in attack and defense, Forest have scored four goals and conceded just twice, suggesting a side with both resilience and attacking sharpness. The home side will be eager to extend this run and continue their push into the upper half of the standings.
West Ham, meanwhile, find themselves rooted to the bottom of the league. The Hammers are without a point after two heavy defeats a 5-1 thrashing at Chelsea and a 3-0 loss to newly promoted Sunderland. Their problems were compounded in the EFL Cup, where they fell 3-2 to Wolves. With eight goals conceded and only one scored in the league, West Ham are under early pressure to turn their form around. This encounter presents a critical chance to spark a revival before their campaign slips further off course.
Historically, Nottingham Forest have enjoyed the better of recent meetings. They have won three of the last five clashes, including a 2-1 victory at the London Stadium where Morgan Gibbs-White and Nikola Milenkovic struck before Jarrod Bowen’s late reply. At the City Ground, Forest were even more dominant, securing a 3-0 and 2-0 win in their last two home fixtures against the Hammers. West Ham’s last victory came in a 3-2 thriller at the London Stadium, with Lucas Paquetá, Bowen, and Tomas Soucek on the scoresheet.
Both teams are expected to name strong lineups. Forest could start with Sels in goal, supported by a backline of Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, and Williams. In midfield, Anderson and Yates are likely to anchor, with Ndoye, Gibbs-White, and Hudson-Odoi providing creativity behind striker Chris Wood. West Ham may line up with Hermansen between the posts, a defensive trio of Todibo, Kilman, and Aguerd, while Wan-Bissaka and Diouf operate as wing-backs. Soucek and Ward-Prowse will battle in midfield, with Paquetá and Fernandes supporting Bowen up front.
With Forest in form and West Ham struggling, the City Ground faithful will expect another home victory, though the Hammers’ need for points could make this a tense encounter.
