- Nottingham Forest have won the last 3 H2H meetings including a 4-2 victory here in the Premier League 2024/2025 season.
- Nottingham Forest have won one, drawn two and lost two of their last five matches and come into this after successive defeats.
- Ipswich have won two and lost three of their last five, but returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Fulham last time out.
Ipswich and Forest to scrap it out at Portman Road
Gary O'Neil has got Ipswich set up in a clever, adaptable system that allows them to keep it tight in defence and hit opponents on the break with pace and precision in this Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest preview. The Tractor Boys are compact in their own third, with their wing-backs and central midfielders protecting the back four and giving a bit of width in the attacking third.
Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest set up in a similar manner in their 3-4-2-1, but they become a 5-4-1 without the ball as the wing-backs drop back to form a five-man defensive line. Their pressing game is also a touch more aggressive than Ipswich's trigger-based approach, so there should be some interesting chess match through the half-spaces on Friday.
Emersonn leads the scoring charts for Ipswich in the Premier League 2026-2027 with two goals in five matches, but his finishing is so sharp that the hosts will always be a live threat with him up top. Dan Ndoye has one goal for Forest and the Reds have Morgan Gibbs-White to keep things ticking over in the final third with two assists in five appearances so far.
Nottingham Forest enter in the driving seat
Nottingham Forest are favored here at 2.24 in the outright market, ahead of Ipswich Town at 3.0 and the draw at 3.45, but we think this Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest prediction could be too close to call.
Ipswich haven't beaten Forest in their last three meetings, so the visitors have the mental advantage, but the Tractor Boys have made Portman Road a difficult place to go this season with two wins and one defeat from three Premier League home games.
They have conceded just four goals across those three fixtures, so there's good reason to think they can keep this close, but Forest have scored five goals on their travels in 2026-2027 at an average of 1.67 per game, so it's hard to pick a winner.
Backing both teams to score at a price of 1.62 could be a smart move in this market, and our Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest betting tips suggest both sides have the attacking tools to outwit each other and the confidence to have a go.
If you're still weighing things up, the Ipswich Town vs Nottingham Forest prediction is that a narrow scoreline would not be a surprise.
