Nottingham Forest v Leeds United: Lineups announced for Premier League opener
Nottingham Forest will host Leeds United at the City Ground in Nottingham on Saturday, August 22, 2026, in the Premier League 2026-27 season. Both clubs have confirmed their starting XIs and benches ahead of the fixture.
Both sides finished in the bottom half of last season's table and arrive looking to begin the new campaign with a win. Forest are managed by new head coach Oliver Glasner and made several additions during the transfer window. Defender Ousmane Diomande, who joined from Sporting CP for £34 million, is listed to feature "in the heart of defence", and big-money signing Gustavo Sa is also expected to be involved. Leeds ended last season in 14th and have added Tarik Muharemovic, who can be expected to feature, while the Whites have lost their opening top-flight matches just twice in the last 18 seasons.
Forest’s starting XI was named as Matz Sels; Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo, Jair Cunha; Ola Aina, Ibrahim Sangare, Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams; Dan Ndoye, James McAtee; Igor Jesus. The bench includes John Victor (gk), Ousmane Diomande, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nicolas Dominguez, Chris Wood, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Xavier Schlager, Luca Netz and Zach Abbott.
Leeds named James Trafford in goal with the outfield XI: Tarik Muharemovic, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol; Jayden Bogle, Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, James Justin; Harry Wilson, Brenden Aaronson; Daniel Calvert-Lewin. Their substitutes are Lucas Perri (gk), Daniel James, Sean Longstaff, Lukas Nmecha, Noah Okafor, Ao Tanaka, Nico Elvedi, Alfie Cresswell and Jayden Lienou.
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Sushruta has spent over two years covering football, with a particular focus on Indian and international competitions. Alongside football, he has reported on a variety of sports, bringing curiosity and perspective to every story. When he’s not following the action, he can usually be found binge-watching movies or getting lost in a good book.
The fixture is Matchday 1 of the Premier League 2026-27. In India, kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM IST.