The curtains will fall on Gameweek 35 of the 2025/26 Premier League season on Monday. Oddly, we will have two matches on Monday, including an unprecedented afternoon fixture. The action on the day will start with Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge before ending with the game between Everton and Manchester City at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Chelsea’s campaign has been bizarre, as they can end the 2025/26 season with a trophy yet do so with an interim head coach after sacking Liam Rosenior a few weeks ago. The Blues have shown promise at times this term, going as high as second in the Premier League standings.
However, the latest run of results has been historic for the wrong reasons, as they lost five successive Premier League games without scoring, a 114-year low for the club. The run of results has dropped Chelsea to eighth on the table with very little chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
On the other hand, Nottingham Forest may have been mired in the relegation battle throughout the 2025/26 season, but they are on the cusp of putting that behind them. The Tricky Trees are on a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League and on an eight-match streak across all competitions.
Vitor Pereira’s men have been juggling the competitions efficiently, having beaten Aston Villa 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg while going five points clear of 18th-placed Tottenham Hotspur. However, with the Midlands outfit not out of the woods yet, they cannot afford to take the focus off the Premier League battle.
The reverse fixture saw Chelsea cruise to a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, with Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto, and Reece James finding the back of the net. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Calum McFarlane has received positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. Chelsea’s interim head coach may be bereft of the services of only four first-team players vs Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Reece James (hamstring) and Levi Colwill (knee) are closing in on returning from their layoffs, and they face late fitness tests to determine their availability. So, Filip Jorgensen (groin), Jamie Gittens (thigh), and Estevao (hamstring) are the only players on the sidelines. Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk remains indefinitely unavailable after failing a doping test over a year ago.
Robert Sanchez is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Nottingham Forest on Monday. The backline will feature Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, Andrey Santos will line up alongside Moises Caicedo in the double pivot, with Enzo Fernandez reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for Chelsea against Nottingham Forest, with Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Neto; Pedro
Unlike his counterpart in the Chelsea dugout, Vitor Pereira has a new issue to worry about ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. The Nottingham Forest head coach may be without as many as nine first-team players on Monday.
Pereira is sweating over the fitness of Ola Aina (knock), Murillo (thigh), Ibrahim Sangare (unspecified), Jair Cunha (shoulder), and Dan Ndoye (unspecified), with Aina the closest to being fit and available to take on Chelsea. However, Nicolo Savona (knee), John Victor (knee), and Willy Boly (knee), and Callum Hudson-Odoi (thigh) remain in the treatment room.
Matz Sels will take his spot between the sticks, with Nottingham Forest lining up in a 4-4-2 formation in front of him vs Chelsea on Monday. The backline will feature Zach Abbott, Nikola Milenkovic, Morato, and Neco Williams, with Pereira taking no risks with the fitness of Aina and Murillo.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Elliot Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez in the central areas, with Omari Hutchinson and Morgan Gibbs-White being the two wide midfielders. However, Gibbs-White will often tuck in to pull the strings from the half spaces, allowing Neco Williams to take advanced spots on the left flank. Finally, Lorenzo Lucca and Igor Jesus should be the two strikers, with Chris Wood getting some rest.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Sels; Abbott, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Hutchinson, Anderson, Dominguez; Gibbs-White; Lucca, Jesus
While Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, and Elliot Anderson were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Morgan Gibbs-White as the Player to Watch for Monday’s Premier League clash between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
The Englishman’s 16 Premier League goal involvements are already his best return in a top-flight campaign (13 goals, 3 assists), beating his tallies in 2023/24 and 2024/25 (15 each). Meanwhile, 12 of his 16 goal contributions have come in 2026, with only Bruno Fernandes (15) recording more since the turn of the year. With such figures, it is hardly surprising that Gibbs-White is a captaincy candidate in FPL for Gameweek 35.
Saturday’s match presents an opportunity for both teams to secure three points; alas, only one can do it, if at all. Chelsea will sense the chance to pounce on a team full of tired legs ahead of the away side’s UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa next week. However, the Blues first need to focus on ending their historic drought in the Premier League.
On the other hand, Nottingham Forest will be aware that the hosts are at their lowest ebb this season and struggling to score in the Premier League. Additionally, the Tricky Trees have a solid recent record at Stamford Bridge, although Calum McFarlane’s men may finally find a way to score this weekend.
With the visitors revelling in their clinical finishing in recent weeks, another splendid finishing display may be on the cards, this time to condemn Chelsea to a sixth successive defeat in the Premier League. That will effectively end the West London club’s UEFA Champions League qualification hopes while taking Forest a step closer to safety. The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 2-1 win for Vitor Pereira and his charges.
