Nottingham

Image source, Getty Images

There was a carnival atmosphere inside the City Ground as news of Luton's defeat to West Ham filtered through before Nottingham Forest's final home game of the season to Chelsea.

It meant Forest required one point to confirm a third successive season in the Premier League.

For six minutes it looked like they might confirm their survival in style as Callum Hudson-Odoi sent Forest into a 2-1 lead in the 74th-minute before Chelsea hit back with two late goals to seal a 3-2 win.

It will still require an unlikely set of circumstances to deny Forest a place in the Premier League next season.

They head into the final day with a three point lead over Luton, who also require a 12-goal swing to stay up.

But there was a sense of opportunity missed and instead of securing their safety with a game to spare, Nuno Espirito Santo's side head to relegated Burnley on 19 May knowing they have work to do.

Nuno Espirito Santo spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Nottingham Forest's defeat to Chelsea: "It was a good match to watch. I'm disappointed after we bounced back to 2-1. We were dominant and controlled the game but the match went away from us because of our own mistakes. We allowed Chelsea to score.

"We knew it was in our hands to achieve the main objective to stay in the Premier League. It's not yet done but the way the players stuck to their task, we are positive for the next one to finally finish the job.

"The fans show us what it means. They have been so supportive. We are disappointed we are set to let them down today because they deserve a moment of happiness. We try for the next one but thank you for the support.

"It was not to be. I'm proud of the boys, the way they've been working on a daily basis. It's been hard for the boys with all of the noise around the football club. It's almost there.

"We have a good foundation as a football club to build a future. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us."

• Since Boxing Day 2023, only three teams have picked up more points than Chelsea (35) in the Premier League (Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool). They’ve lost just three of their 18 games in this period (W10 D5), with only Man City (0) suffering fewer defeats.

• Nottingham Forest suffered their ninth home defeat of the Premier League season, their joint-most in a 20-team campaign (also nine in 1998-99).

• Chelsea have conceded in each of their past 15 away games in the Premier League, their longest ever run within a season. Their last clean sheet on the road in the league was at Fulham back in October (a 2-0 win), while they’ve shipped 33 goals in their 15 away trips since then.

• Morgan Gibbs-White recorded his 10th assist of the Premier League campaign, with only Ollie Watkins (12) making more in 2023-24. He’s just the third Nottingham Forest player to hit double figures for assists in a season, after Bryan Roy in 1994-95 (11) and Ian Woan in 1995-96 (10).

• Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (21 goals, 10 assists) is just the fourth player in Premier League history to score 20+ goals and provide 10+ assists in his debut season for a specific club, after Andrew Cole with Newcastle in 1993-94 (34G & 13A), Jürgen Klinsmann with Spurs in 1994-95 (20G & 10A) and Mohamed Salah with Liverpool in 2017-18 (32G & 10A).

• Callum Hudson-Odoi has scored eight goals for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this season; the most by an English player for the club since both Ian Woan and Jason Lee in 1995-96 (8).

Nottingham Forest missed the chance to secure Premier League safety after losing to Chelsea in a five-goal thriller at the City Ground.

A resurgent Chelsea took the lead through their first attack when Mykhailo Mudryk swept home in the eighth minute after a beautifully crafted pass by Cole Palmer.

But after Willy Boly headed Forest level, former Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi sent Forest into a 74th-minute lead with a curling finish from 15 yards.

In an entertaining encounter, substitute Raheem Sterling made it 2-2 before Nicolas Jackson struck an 82nd-minute winner.

Luton's defeat at West Ham earlier on Saturday meant Forest required one point to confirm a third successive season in the Premier League.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side have 29 points from 37 games, three more than 18th-placed Luton who also have one match left.

However, Forest also have a superior goal difference, with Luton requiring a 12-goal swing to stay up.

The Reds go to relegated Burnley on the final day on 19 May, while Luton host Fulham.

Were you at the ground or following along from home?

Reds fans, give us your thoughts on the game.

Tell us what you made of the performance, Chelsea supporters.

Follow all the reaction here

There are eight Premier League games taking place today, and you can stay updated with all of them via our live page.

Keep up with all the action and reaction here.

Chris Sutton is making predictions for every Premier League game this season against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's matches, he takes on Kasabian frontman Serge Pizzorno.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

By the time this game kicks off, Nottingham Forest will know how Luton and Burnley have done. They could be as good as safe... or under a lot of pressure.

Chelsea have hit a bit of form and Mauricio Pochettino is showing why he always deserved to get time with this team, because they have found more consistency the longer the season has gone on.

But Forest have got some good players and I can see them getting a point out of this, which might be enough to make it absolutely certain they are staying up.

Serge's prediction: 0-1

I know Chelsea have been playing well in their past few games but they are a funny team.

Read all of the predictions here

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina says he is looking forward to the Reds' game against Chelsea at the City Ground on Saturday.

Aina signed for the Blues at under-11 level, and left the club permanently in 2019 after loan moves to Hull City and Torino.

Aina will be looking to help the Reds do the double over Chelsea after their 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in September.

"I don't know if this is going to get me in trouble, but I am a Chelsea fan." Aina told BBC East Midlands Today. "It's a fixture I've been looking forward to and I'm excited to be involved in it to see what happens."

On the Blues' recent form, Aina added: "It's football really. Sometimes you're high and sometimes you're low. It's just about trying to get a balance and stay consistent. That's what I've been trying to do.

"I don't think there's any point to prove. I don't hold grudges or anything - whatever happened in the past happened. There's no animosity there. It's just the career of a footballer.

"I only have fond moments of being at Chelsea. It's a chapter that closed and [I've] moved on, just how anyone else would."

Listen to full match commentary of Nottingham Forest v Chelsea on BBC Radio 5 Live at 17:30 BST on Saturday

Image source, Getty Images

Brazilian defender Murillo has made a "promise" to Nottingham Forest supporters that the club "will stay in the Premier League", in his first English interview since joining the Reds in August 2023.

Murillo left Corinthians to join Forest under former manager Steve Cooper, signing a five-year deal after the two clubs agreed a fee of around £15m.

Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, the 21-year-old explained his decision to move to England: "For me, it is my dream.

"I have always dreamed about playing in Europe, but playing in the Premier League was my big dream. Today, I am playing in the Premier League.

"Nottingham Forest are the best group and the best team with a big history. We need to stay in the Premier League.

"We need the fans to stay calm because my promise is that we are going to stay in the Premier League."

On helping the team to a 3-1 win over already relegated Sheffield United last time out, Murillo said: "It was a big win. The team needed the win, but the next two games are very important.

"We need two wins to stay in the Premier League and we will do what we can.

"The next game will be very difficult against Chelsea, but we will be playing at home. It will still be a very difficult game because they are a big team.

"This week we have been working very hard to arrive on Saturday prepared for this next game to make the fans very happy."

Listen to Murillo's full interview on BBC Sounds

With the news this week on their failed points deduction appeal, I think Nottingham Forest will go all out for these remaining games and be more confident in what they have to do.

If results go in a way that takes it to the final game of the season, then the match against Burnley could be a real humdinger on the last day.

Luton are going to have to get at least four points you would think to have a chance and then they face West Ham next in what could be another massive game with David Moyes' last home match in charge.

The issue with Forest is that they have got a lot of players, had a big turnaround in a short space of time, have had financial restrictions and a manager change. They have great ability in the squad and I didn't think they would be in this situation, I thought they would be away from it. If those points don't get taken off and the tension doesn't set in then they probably would have performed better because the points return has not been great.

It is difficult to say what Nuno Espirito Santo has done since he has come in. He has tried to change the style and use the squad as best as he can. They found form early on but then fell away and struggled. At the City Ground, however, you always feel like you are going to be in a game against them.

I thought Steve Cooper was doing an amazing job before he was sacked, so I was saying at the time to stick with it. I'm sure it wouldn't have made that much of a difference to where they currently are. Nuno has done OK. He will want to get better and better, but there is still some mixed, mixed results with the squad that they currently have.