Preview: Midtjylland looking to make history against Nottingham Forest in second leg of UEFA Europa League tie | OneFootball

Midtjylland stumped the tricky trees in the first leg to take a somewhat surprising 1-0 lead back to Denmark and with Forest facing a massive relegation six-pointer against Spurs this weekend they may hope their opponents have their minds elsewhere and could progress to the quarter-final for the first time in the club’s history.

Their opponents Nottingham Forest are in the middle of a huge relegation battle in the Premier League, they are level on points with West Ham in 18th and have the second worst goal difference compared to the four sides around them. On their fourth manager of the season, Forest look in real danger of being relegated for the first time since their promotion to the top-flight in 2022.

After progressing past Fenerbahçe in the Europa League play-offs it seems as though the in-form Danes have too much for the East Midlands club to deal with, especially when looking at fixture congestion in this business end of the season.

Midtjylland are currently sat second in the Danish league and have actually succumbed to defeat in their latest game where they lost 1-0 to Nordsjaelland in their domestic league.

Forest meanwhile drew their most recent fixture against Fulham which at first was disappointing but eventually became a crucial point for the Tricky Trees as West Ham and Spurs also picked up a point each, which would have left Vitor Pereira’s side in the bottom three. Forest haven’t won a game since their 3-0 victory in Türkiye and they haven’t won a game in the Premier League since a 2-0 victory over Brentford back in January.

In positive news for Forest, Midtjylland star striker Franculino is ruled out with a knee injury and is unavailable to play in the second leg, the Guinea-Bissau international has netted 21 times in 30 appearances and has been the main man for the Danes.

Elsewhere, full-back Paulinho has been ruled out with an illness whilst central midfielder Alamara Djabi is also out with a calf injury. Fellow midfielder Denil Castillo is side-lined due to still serving a suspension after receiving too many yellow cards in the earlier stages of the competition.

As for Forest, their survival hopes got a huge shot in the arm yesterday when Pereira revealed that last seasons top scorer Chris Wood could return from his long lasting knee injury as early as mid-April. The New Zealander has been missing since October. In bad news, goalkeeper Stefan Ortega will remain side-lined so number one Mats Sels is expected to retain his place, Brazilian centre-back Jari Cunha is also still out with an issue in his foot.

With the stakes already so high, it presents a chance for Midtjylland to make history and for Forest to give their season a huge boost when they need it the most.

Midtjylland vs Nottingham Forest kicks off at 17:45pm GMT and is available to watch live on TNT Sports in the UK.