Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his team's final five Premier League games of the campaign are the "biggest of our careers".

Forest sit sixth in the table but have the chance to move back into the top five, enough for a Champions League spot next season, against Brentford on Thursday.

Nuno's side come into the game off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in their FA Cup semi-final clash, with full focus now on sealing European football. 

After Brentford, Forest face FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace, Midlands rivals Leicester City, West Ham United and Chelsea in their final games of their campaign. 

"All the games are going to be very, very important for a lot of teams in this fight. We have one more. Let's try to perform well," Nuno said.

"We are back in the City Ground in front of our fans. It's a big help.

"We have never stopped believing, no matter what happens. Throughout the competition, we have had good moments and bad moments, and we have been able to react, and again it is up to us to react again.

"All the games are the biggest games of our career. That is how we approach it.

"We are only thinking about Brentford now. That is the only thing we have to consider now in our minds, is to compete against them. It's in our hands, that's a big advantage."

Brentford, meanwhile, have their own European ambitions, with the Bees five points behind eighth-placed Fulham in the race for European football.

An top eight finish in the Premier League would secure a spot in next season's Europa Conference League if Palace do not beat Man City in the FA Cup final.

Brentford overcame Brighton in a six-goal thriller in their last league encounter, and even with Europe in their sights, Bees manager Thomas Frank says a second top-half finish would be a "remarkable achievement".

"There are five games to go; we want to finish as high as possible," Frank stated.

"We definitely would like to see if we can finish in the top 10 for the second time in the Premier League, which would be a remarkable achievement.

"Can we do one better than our best season in the Premier League and finish eighth? That would be brilliant. And if that's Europe, that would be fantastic."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

Wood has the highest shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season (min. 10 shots), netting 19 of his 54 attempts so far (35.2%).

Indeed, it's the highest conversion rate on record (since 2003-04) for any player with at least 50 shots in a single campaign.

He has also scored 19 goals for Forest in the Premier League this season – the only player to score 20 in a campaign for the club is Stan Collymore (22 in 1994-95).

Brentford – Bryan Mbeumo

Mbeumo has been involved in 24 Premier League goals for Brentford this season (18 goals, six assists), the joint-most by a player for them in a single season in the competition, along with Ivan Toney in 2022-23.

His first goal against Brighton was his eighth strike that has opened the scoring in a Premier League game this season. Only Forest's Wood (nine) has scored more.

Mbeumo has also formed a fine partnership with Yoane Wissa. The pair have both scored in the same Premier League match 18 times, with only seven different duos doing so more for a side in the competition's history.

Seven of those 18 games have been this season. The last time a pair did so more times in one campaign was in 2021-22, when Harry Kane and Son Heung-min scored in the same match eight times for Tottenham Hotspur, and Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah did so 10 times for Liverpool. 

MATCH PREDICTION: NOTTINGHAM FOREST WIN

Forest's 2-0 win against Brentford in the reverse fixture ended a six-game winless run against the Bees in the league (D3 L3), with 2019-20 the last time they completed the league double against them.

Their 1-0 defeat against Everton in their last home game ended a nine-game unbeaten run at the City Ground in the Premier League (W7 D2). They've not lost consecutive home league games since their final two last season (vs Man City and Chelsea).

Only Southampton (182) and Fulham (181) have forced fewer high turnovers than Forest in the Premier League this season (201). Despite this, they rank second for goals scored from high turnovers this term (nine), behind only Liverpool (10).

Brentford, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last three league games (W1 D2), but are yet to go four without defeat this season, last doing so in April 2024 (run of five).

But after winning four consecutive away league games against Forest between 2014 and 2018, Brentford have won just one of their last five at the City Ground (D2 L2).

The Bees are also winless in all 10 of their midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League matches since the start of last season (D3 L7), while they've also lost their only previous Thursday game in the competition (0-2 v Tottenham, December 2021).

But Forest must be wary. Brentford have the highest shot conversion rate of any side in the Premier League this season (14.8%). However, Nuno's team have the lowest conversion rate against them in the competition this term (8.3%).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest – 44.8%

Draw – 25.4%

Brentford – 29.8%