Ipswich Town FC 1-1 Nottingham Forest FC: Premier League Match Report, 23 October 2026

Our preview of this match was written on 18 October 2026 but only went live on 1 November, after the final whistle. Its pick is reviewed below as it was written, and it is left out of our win rate and bankroll.

All of the scoring was done before half-time. Ipswich Town FC 1-1 Nottingham Forest FC: 1-1 at the interval, and the second half stayed goalless. Which side scored first is not on record.

Ipswich started the night tenth on nine points from seven, goal difference -4, with three wins, four defeats and not a single draw; their games had averaged close to four goals. Forest were nineteenth on five at -4, without a win since 12 September and coming off three straight defeats.

The draw broke both patterns. It was Ipswich's first draw of the season and Forest's first point in four matches. It also extended a split that is hard to explain: Forest have now scored in all four away matches and in none of their four at home. What changed was the volume. Each of their first three trips — 2-2 at Liverpool, 2-1 at Aston Villa, 3-1 at Crystal Palace — had produced at least three goals, and this was the first that did not.

Forest are unbeaten against Ipswich across the three meetings on record: a 1-0 at home in November 2024, a 4-2 at Portman Road in March 2025, and now the first draw between them.

Six points from eight is well behind Forest's rate last season, when they finished sixteenth on 44, about 1.16 a game. The goals have thinned out too: 48 in 38 matches then, about 1.3 a game, against six in eight now. The point ends a run of three straight defeats without changing the direction of their season, and both goal differences stay at -4.

Ipswich were not in the division last season, so there is no 2025/26 finish to compare with; they move to ten points from eight. It is a respectable start for a promoted club, built on goals at both ends: twelve scored and sixteen conceded, a goals-against total only Crystal Palace had exceeded, and their matches still average three and a half goals. The four points between them and Forest are not much with thirty rounds left.

Our preview's call was Over 2.5 Goals at 1.72. The case, at medium confidence, was Ipswich's matches, five of seven over the line, and Forest's three away trips, all of which had reached three goals.

The preview named its own counter-signal: Forest's seven matches had averaged exactly two goals, and four had produced one or none. It pictured that as a 0-0 or 1-0; instead there were two goals before half-time and none after, leaving the over one goal short for the whole second half. The specific misjudgement was the argument that neither side draws: Ipswich had none in seven and Forest only two, read as a reason for somebody to chase the game. Seven matches without a draw is a small sample, and it said little about this one.

Verdict: not counted. The pick would have lost, but the preview only went live after kick-off.