Nottingham Forest Still Waiting for a Home Goal as Manchester City Visit
Nottingham Forest Still Waiting for a Home Goal as Manchester City Visit
Nottingham Forest have not scored in any of their first four home league games of the 2026-27 season. Only five teams in English top-flight history have started a campaign that way, and Forest are one of them.
The club's manager, Oliver Glasner, now faces Manchester City at the City Ground on Saturday 7 November, with kick-off at 5.30pm GMT. The Guardian reported the figures ahead of that match. The top flight is the Premier League, the highest division in English football.
The numbers show a team that is creating chances but not finishing them. Forest have taken 70 shots at home in all competitions this season without scoring. That includes a home League Cup tie against Leeds, which also ended goalless.
In the league, their 62 home shots have an expected goals total of 3.58. Expected goals, or xG, is a way of measuring how good a chance was, based on where and how the shot was taken. A total of 3.58 suggests the team should have scored more than it has.
Forest's shots have also been mostly speculative. Half of their home league shots, 50.3%, came from outside the penalty box. Only two were classed as big chances by Opta, the data company that tracks the game. A big chance is a clear, close opportunity that should normally go in. Just nine of the 62 shots were on target, an accuracy rate of 14.5%.
Last season was not much better at home. Forest scored only two more goals at the City Ground than Burnley, who had the fewest home goals in the Premier League. They failed to score in nine home games in 2025-26.
For perspective, the lowest home goal tally in modern times among Europe's big five leagues belongs to Dijon. In 2020-21, the French club scored eight goals in 19 home Ligue 1 games. Forest are not yet at that level, but their run is long enough to be noticed.
History offers a mixed warning. Three of the previous four English top-flight teams to go four home games without a goal also failed to score in their fifth. The fifth, for Forest, is a match against the reigning force of English football.
Tickets for the City game started at £50 for adults and £18 for children, according to the club. Forest have also announced changes to the matchday experience, including a half-price draught alcohol offer for early bookers. Those details matter less to the pitch than the question of who will put the ball in the net.
For Forest fans, the wait is becoming a talking point. A goal against City would end the drought in front of a home crowd. It would also give Glasner something to build on after a slow start that has left the team searching for its first home goal of the season.
