Nottingham Forest vs Malmo predictions and betting tips – Dyche’s team aim to maintain fine form

Nov 27, 2025 - 16:15

Sean Dyche has had an excellent start to his Nottingham Forest tenure, with Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool the highlight to date. Attention now turns back to the Europa League this week.

Malmo are the visitors to the City Ground on matchday five. Will Forest add another three points to their European tally, or will the Swedish side deny them?

Nottingham Forest to win to nil – 4/5 with Paddy Power
Nottingham Forest to win the first half – 8/13 with Tote
Morgan Gibbs-White to score any time – 5/3 with 247bet

Nottingham Forest vs Malmo odds

Find the latest Nottingham Forest vs Malmo betting odds here. All odds are provided by our recommended football bookmakers and are subject to change.

Stay in-play between matches with bet365’s live casino!

Nottingham Forest vs Malmo predictions

For football fans of a certain vintage, Nottingham Forest vs Malmo is a significant fixture.

These two teams contested the European Cup final of 1979. Trevor Francis scored the only goal of the game at the Olympiastadion in Munich, giving Forest a 1-0 victory.

Brian Clough’s side went on to retain the trophy the following year with a 1-0 defeat of Hamburg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

It was an extraordinary achievement, and one which is hard to envision being replicated today. Indeed, the presence in the Champions League final of a provincial English team and a Swedish club is virtually unimaginable in 2025.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has invited the surviving Forest and Malmo players from that game to the City Ground for Thursday’s clash in the Europa League.

Those icons will watch a Forest team that is on the up. Marinakis erred in hiring Ange Postecoglou without giving him a pre-season to work with a squad that was used to a very different style of football.

But to his credit, Marinakis acted decisively when he realised he had made a mistake. Sean Dyche looks like a much better fit for this Forest team.

Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool was their best result of the season. Sure, Liverpool are in a bad place right now. But winning so convincingly at Anfield is still not easy.

“Of course it is to be enjoyed, it is for the fans and the players, but we have to go again,” Dyche said afterwards. “Everything’s not solved, but it’s a good, strong marker about this group.”

Forest’s success at the weekend removed them from the Premier League relegation zone. They are still only one point clear of the drop zone, but with the quality at their disposal Forest should be able to climb the table from this point on.

Doing so would not only ease any lingering demotion concerns, but it would also allow Forest to devote more attention to the Europa League than they would be able to if their Premier League status was under threat.

There is work to do. Forest are 23rd at the midway point of the league phase, just one point inside the play-off positions.

A top-eight finish would be ideal. Forest are three points shy at present, so that target remains within reach.

Nottingham Forest vs Malmo betting tips

Nottingham Forest host Malmo on Thursday night – which way will this one go?

Forest win and clean sheet

Malmo are not dead and buried yet, but a return of one point from the first 12 available has left them in a difficult position.

Defeats by Ludogorets Razgrad, Viktoria Plzen and Panathinaikos have contributed to Malmo trailing the play-off spots by four points.

Another disappointing result is on the cards for the Swedish side this week. Nottingham Forest have renewed confidence and they should prove too strong for Malmo.

Dyche has made the team physically fitter and improved their defensive organisation. That combination should help Forest keep a clean sheet here.

Back Nottingham Forest to win to nil at 4/5 with Paddy Power

Forest seek fast start

Nottingham Forest need to ensure the City Ground is a fortress for the remainder of the campaign.

The Forest fans are right behind this manager and group of players, and a fast start from the team will keep the supporters engaged.

Malmo have really struggled in this competition up to now, and Forest should aim to exploit their fragile confidence by going on the front foot from the first whistle.

If Forest get out of the traps quickly on Thursday, they can establish a solid lead by the interval.

From there, they would be huge favourites to collect all three points.

Tip Nottingham Forest to win the first half at 8/13 with Tote

Gibbs-White to the fore

Morgan Gibbs-White looked set to join Tottenham Hotspur over the summer, but Nottingham Forest dug in their heels to keep hold of the attacking midfielder.

Just as well. Gibbs-White is Forest’s best player and Dyche has begun to bring the best out of him.

The England international has scored four goals in his last six appearances, including one against Porto in Forest’s previous Europa League game at the City Ground.

Gibbs-White is an intelligent, technically gifted attacker, and we like his chances of getting his name on the scoresheet against Malmo.

Select Morgan Gibbs-White to score any time at 5/3 with 247bet

Nottingham Forest vs Malmo predicted lineups

Nottingham Forest expected lineup: Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hutchinson; Jesus.
Malmo expected lineup: Olsen; Larsen, Duric, Rosler, Busanello; Rosengren, Busuladzic, Skogmar, Haksabanovic; Ekong, Bolin.

Where to watch Nottingham Forest vs Malmo

Location: City Ground, Nottingham, England.
Date and time: Thursday 27th November, 8pm.
How to watch: TNT Sports 1.

More Europa League predictions

We have plenty more Europa League predictions and picks – find our latest betting tips from expert punters in our match preview overview.

More Champions League free bet offers

About the author

Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football writer from London. He predominantly covers the Premier League and has had work published by the Guardian, FourFourTwo, ESPN and others.

Follow Greg on X: @GregLeaFootball

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talkSPORT. 18+. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chase their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
GambleAware – www.gambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.