The OPTA stats that offer plenty of encouragement for Leeds ahead of Forest clash
Leeds United will begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a trip to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Daniel Farke’s side will be hoping to build on their 14th-place finish last season, when they ended the campaign three points and two places above Forest in the Premier League table.
Forest, meanwhile, begin a new era under Oliver Glasner, with the former Crystal Palace boss taking charge of his first Premier League match for the club at the City Ground.
Ahead of Saturday’s opening-day clash, our friends at Opta have highlighted several key statistics and trends involving both teams, including recent form, head-to-head records, individual performances and last season’s Premier League numbers.
Leeds have an impressive opening-day record
Leeds have lost their opening fixture in just two of their last 18 top-flight seasons.
During that period, the Whites have recorded nine victories and seven draws, with their only defeats coming against Liverpool in 2020-21 and Manchester United in 2021-22.
That record should provide Farke’s side with plenty of confidence heading into Saturday’s encounter.
Leeds have already beaten Forest on the opening weekend
This will be only the second time Leeds and Nottingham Forest have met in the opening league fixture of a season.
The previous meeting came in 1991-92, when Howard Wilkinson’s Leeds side secured a 1-0 victory before going on to lift the top-flight title that season.
Leeds won the most recent meeting
Leeds also have recent head-to-head history on their side, having beaten Forest 3-1 at Elland Road in February.
Jayden Bogle and Noah Okafor scored four minutes apart in the first half before Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a third shortly after the interval.
Forest’s Lorenzo Lucca scored a consolation goal in the 86th minute.
Leeds also finished that match with 2.52 expected goals compared with Forest’s 1.33, underlining their attacking threat in the contest.
Leeds finished above Forest last season
Farke’s side finished the 2025-26 Premier League campaign in 14th place, two positions above Forest in 16th.
Leeds collected 47 points from their 38 matches, finishing three points ahead of Forest, who ended the campaign with 44.
Leeds found another gear after December
Leeds’ form improved significantly after switching to a back-three/back-five system from December onwards last season.
Across their final 25 Premier League matches, the Whites collected 36 points from eight wins, 12 draws and five defeats.
Only six teams picked up more points during that period, highlighting the improvement Leeds made as the campaign progressed.
Leeds proved difficult to beat on the road
Despite collecting only 15 away points across the season, Leeds lost just two of their final 12 Premier League matches on the road.
Their record across those 12 fixtures was one win, nine draws and two defeats.
In fact, Leeds’ nine away draws across the entire campaign were joint-most among all clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, level with Real Betis.
Calvert-Lewin enjoyed a 14-goal campaign
Dominic Calvert-Lewin finished last season as Leeds’ leading Premier League scorer with 14 goals.
That tally placed him joint-seventh among the division’s top scorers and represented the second-highest Premier League goal return of his career.
Only his 16-goal campaign in 2020-21 produced more.
Wilson could give Leeds another attacking edge
New Leeds signing Harry Wilson scored 10 goals and provided seven assists in the Premier League last season, giving him 17 direct goal contributions.
Only eight players in the division recorded more goal involvements.
Wilson’s seven assists also placed him among the Premier League’s leading creators, while his finishing statistics were particularly impressive.
The Welshman exceeded his expected-goals figure by 4.2, with only Antoine Semenyo (+5.9) and Junior Kroupi (+4.7) recording a bigger positive differential.
Forest’s history makes Glasner’s start even tougher
Oliver Glasner will begin his Premier League tenure at Forest against Leeds, but history offers little encouragement.
Each of Forest’s previous six permanent managers lost their first Premier League match in charge.
The last permanent Forest boss to win his opening Premier League game was Dave Bassett, who guided the club to a 1-0 victory away at Tottenham in March 1997.
With Leeds boasting a strong opening-day record, recent success against Forest and encouraging underlying numbers, the statistics suggest Farke’s side have plenty of reasons to approach Saturday’s clash with confidence.