The Europa League kicks off this week and sees Nottingham Forest take on Real Betis, as Forest return to European football after a 30-year hiatus.
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The Europa League is back for the 2025/26 season, and this year it sees the return to European football of one of England’s most historic teams. Nottingham Forest will finally play in a continental competition again, the first time since the 1995/95 season, and they kick things off away at Real Betis.
The back-to-back winners of the European Cup in 1979 and 1980 were taken back into Europe by Nuno Espirito Santo, but will start their first game under the management of Ange Postecoglou after Nuno was sacked. Ange has not had the best start to life in Nottingham; however, he has only just begun and will hope that he can replicate his Europa League triumph of last season with his new team.
Betis are entering their fifth consecutive European campaign and are making the step up from the UEFA Conference League to the Europa League. Last season, they did do well in the Conference League, making the final where they lost to Chelsea and will hope to have an equally, if not more, successful campaign this season.
Both sides will believe they can start the competition with a win and will be going all out to get those three points.
Real Betis v Nottingham Forest key information
• Date: Wednesday, September 24th
• Kick-off time: 8pm BST
• Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville
• Referee: Sascha Stegemann
• VAR: Sören Storks
• TV channels: TNT Sports (UK)
• Odds: BET (6/5) - DRAW (12/5) - NFO (11/5)
Real Betis team news
Real Betis have been missing their talismanic midfielder Isco, since the beginning of the season. The serial Champions League winner broke his leg in the final preseason game for Betis and will be out indefinitely. Manager Manuel Pellegrini will also be waiting on the fitness of Aitor Ruibal, Ricardo Rodriguez & Nelson Deossa, all of whom missed their last LaLiga match against Real Sociedad.
Despite missing several players, Betis can look to the form of Cucho Hernández to help keep them going strong. The Colombian has scored in back-to-back games and will be a danger to Forest on Wednesday. There will also be many names in the Betis side that English fans will recognise, with Antony, Pablo Fornals and Giovani Lo Celso all plying their trade for the Spanish team.
Betis predicted line-up v Forest, (4-2-3-1)
Coach: Manuel Pellegrini
Lopez; Bellerin, Natan, Bartra, Firpo; Fornals, Amrabat; Antony, Lo Celso, Ezzalzouli; Hernandez.
Nottingham Forest team news
Ange Postecoglou faces a nervous wait to see if defender Murillo will be fit in time to face Betis on Wednesday. The Brazilian limped off against Arsenal after 37 minutes and was absent for subsequent games against Swansea City and Burnley. He is expected to recover in time. With a defence that is already missing Ola Aina for an extended period, Postecoglou will be hoping not to stay without two members of the solid defence from last season.
One member of the squad who has played in the Europa League before is striker Chris Wood, for Burnley and Birmingham. Forest will be hoping that their big man up top can replicate the form that saw him score 20 goals last season and propel the team forward in Europe.
Forest predicted line-up v Betis, (4-2-3-1)
Coach: Ange Postecoglou
Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Zinchenko; Anderson, Luiz; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Wood.
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
You can watch the Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest match live on TNT Sports 1, which can be watched on discovery+. If you subscribe to discovery+, you can watch this match on your smart TV, console, through the website or the app.
Head-to-Head record
Forest have had a poor start to the season. The team still have only one win this season, and the internal turmoil that saw Nuno Espirito Santo replaced by Postecoglou has not brought in a new manager bounce yet. Forest are even out of the League Cup, losing to lower league opposition, putting more emphasis on starting well in the Europa League.
Betis have had fluctuating form in LaLiga so far, but come into this game on the back of a morale-boosting victory against Real Sociedad on the weekend. That was their second win in the League, and they have only lost once so far to Athletic Bilbao.
This will be the first-ever competitive head-to-head between Betis and Forest, with one friendly being played between the two in 2018, won 1-0 by Betis. Betis have struggled against English opposition in the past, losing seven of their last nine European games against English sides (W1, D1).
Odds for Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest are not the favourites to win this match at the bookmaker’s. Bet365 have Forest at 11/5 to win, whereas Real Betis are at 6/5. A draw is at 12/5.
Odds correct at time of writing, subject to change.