England manager Thomas Tuchel has announced his squad for the World Cup qualifier against Andorra (7 June) and friendly against Senegal (10 June).
Manchester City's Phil Foden, Newcastle's Tino Livramento and West Ham's Jarrod Bowen all miss out, but Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Chelsea duo Noni Madueke and Trevoh Chalobah have been selected.
Sunday's visit of Chelsea "has the potential to be a defining moment" in Nottingham Forest's history, says Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray.
"Whatever happens, whatever the outcome is, you have to applaud what Forest have done this season because it has come out of nowhere," he told BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up and Show More Football podcast.
"They are the first Premier League team to double their points tally from one season to the next.
"They have taken so many strides in one short season. The opportunity if things go right on Sunday afternoon is to open up unthought-of potential in the space of 90 minutes.
"It has the potential to be a defining moment in the club's history."
As illustrated in the graphic above, Forest know they need to win and rely on Newcastle or Aston Villa to drop points in order for them to reach the Champions League.
"It's possible because anything in football is," Fray said. "A rush of blood to the head because of tension or nerves, an early red card in a game, things can change. Everton could start to frustrate Newcastle a little bit - anything could happen.
"The reason all the predictors and the Opta Supercomputer only has Forest on a percentage chance in the low 20s to reach the Champions League is because they have a tough task to beat Chelsea and rely on Everton or a poor Manchester United to take points off those other two sides, who have had great seasons.
"Being realistic, you can see why the chances are so low. If you run the scenarios four or five times maybe, only once do Forest get into the Champions League. But it could be that once. They only need it to happen once."
Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
Nottingham Forest are monitoring developments with Leicester City's 17-year-old English forward Lorenz Hutchinson. (Mail), external
A new episode of the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast is now available to listen to and on BBC Sounds.
BBC Radio Nottingham's David Jackson and Colin Fray discuss Forest's chances of qualifying for the Champions League before Sunday's pivotal showdown with Chelsea.
The also break down Taiwo Awoniyi's serious injury and hear from captain Ryan Yates and midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.
Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
The final day of the 2024-25 Premier League is edging closer, which means we will soon know the answer to who will make up the remaining Champions League spots.
Five teams are in contention for the final three positions and earlier on Thursday, we asked you to put in order where you thought those clubs would finish.
The results showed Chelsea and Nottingham Forest - who face each other at the City Ground - are who you believe will be the sides to miss out.
However it pans out, it is set to be an afternoon of high tension.
Pat Riddell
Fan writer
Image source, Getty ImagesThe fact that Nottingham Forest are even close to qualifying for the Champions League seems like some kind of wild dream.
Having gained promotion to the Premier League in 2022 - after a long, long absence - we have battled relegation for two seasons and, for many, a solid mid-table finish was really all we could hope for.
Similarly, we have been that close to qualifying for the Champions League for so long that it feels a) incredible that we're still here and b) incredible that we have not actually done it already.
Having won the European Cup two years in succession with Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980, and returned to continental competition with Frank Clark 30 years ago, it would mean everything to once again welcome the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona to the City Ground.
Of course, a lot has changed since those days, and for a club - hopefully - on the up, it is not make or break for us.
The team has outperformed everyone's expectations and to make the top five - in the year that the Premier League gained five places in the Champions League - would be an amazing end to an amazing season. Regardless of what happens, the past nine months will live long in the memory.
European football is already a given, having secured a place in the top seven, and competing with clubs bankrolled by petro-states and billionaires is the kind of underdog status that Forest really thrive upon. We are not dependent on Champions League football for our bank balance and renewing our ports is, in many ways, exciting enough. That said, we are not just in it for the adventure.
For the manager and the players, they have given everything this season and Sunday is a time to celebrate and know that the pressure really is on our opponents.
If we stick to our gameplan and play as we have all season, then the fans are with them no matter what.
Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external
Image source, Getty ImagesEach team in the race for the top five will have to keep an eye on other results, but deep down, you just want to be able to focus on your own business.
You want to be able to win your game out on the pitch, but the nature of the matches are really different. You have the head-to-head between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea. Then you have the likes of Manchester City playing away, Aston Villa playing away, you have got Newcastle playing at home against Everton, and when you are at home you are always going to be tough to play. So it is going to be a really, really nervous phase for all those teams involved.
How do I see it playing out? I am not sure I could tell you right now which way it is going to go. It just comes down to moments, and that is really cliche but a one-off game is almost like a final. As it stands, to go into the weekend knowing that you have a real chance, the fans of all the teams will be nervous, but you are one win away from being there.
As a player on the pitch, you absolutely get a sense of what is going on elsewhere, especially if you are at home.
You know what is happening, but then how does that affect your game? You could be losing, you could be up against it at one point, but then other teams start losing or drawing and you are back in the qualifying spots. How do you manage the next moments? How do you manage the last 10 to 15 minutes of the game when a result is one way or the other? Teams can score multiple goals in the blink of an eye, and desperation is one of the real causes for that. All of a sudden, when the kitchen sink is being thrown at people, anything is possible.
As a player, it can be really exciting. You want things to be going your way, but it is very hard to only focus on your game when other things matter at the same time. There is a double level of anxiety because you can control one thing but you cannot control the other, so you can't ever be comfortable.
From the outside, it is an exciting situation, but from the inside, you just hope that you are winning your game of football so you can just take all that out of it.
The 'as it stands' type days, they are some of the best days in football.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson
The race for the three remaining Champions League qualification spots in the Premier League is going right down to the wire.
With one round of fixtures remaining, just three points separate Manchester City in third and Nottingham Forest in seventh.
With five teams vying for three positions, it leaves some clubs with their fate in their own hands, while others will be relying on favours to secure their place.
Newcastle United and Chelsea know that wins will guarantee them spots in Europe's elite competition in 2025-26.
And, with a two points and a 17-goal cushion, just a point but would all but guarantee City a place.
Nottingham Forest, who have spent much of the season occupying one of those top five spots, will need to beat Chelsea and hope for a slip up from teams above them, while Aston Villa will also be hoping for a bit of help from elsewhere.
It is set to be an anxious Sunday for those watching in the stadium and elsewhere.
But where do you think all five teams will finish?
Pat Riddell
Fan writer
We asked our Nottingham Forest fan contributor for their four candidates for player of the season and you can now select your top one.
Matz Sels
There is no question that Sels is one of the Premier League's players of the season, let alone Forest's. Thirteen clean sheets in the league, multiple game-winning saves and three penalty shootouts have seen the 33-year-old Belgian become an essential part of the success this season.
Chris Wood
Wood became Forest's record goalscorer in the Premier League in December - sneaking ahead of Bryan Roy's 24 - and with 20 goals has had his best-ever season. His clinical finishing, way outperforming his expected goals and all-round game has made the New Zealand international indispensable to Nuno Espirito Santo's team.
Nikola Milenkovic
One of the Premier League's gs of last summer, Milenkovic has shored up a leaky defence - solving the club's set-piece problem in an instant and given Forest a platform this season that few could imagine. His centre-back partnership with Murillo is surely one of the league's best and there must be several clubs wondering why they didn't act sooner.
Morgan Gibbs-White
Forest's talisman earned his first England cap in September, having proved himself as one of the most talented midfielders in the country. The enigmatic number 10's drive, determination and pure, outrageous skill is the heartbeat of this Reds side, with seven goals and eight assists only half the story.
Honourable mention
Elliot Anderson. Slotted into Forest's midfield upon g from Newcastle United last summer and has rarely been dropped since. The 'Geordie Maradona' has everything and is surely a future England star.
Pick your 2024-25 Forest player of the season from our shortlist here
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Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo might leave the club at the end of this season because of internal tensions. (Footmercato - in French), external
Pat Riddell
Fan writer
Image source, Getty ImagesAnd so Sunday has shaped up to be the showdown we were almost always expecting. For all Nottingham Forest's trials and tribulations this season, the last day of the season was never going to be a walk in the park.
It is, of course, a time for celebration. To go from the brink of relegation to the brink of the Champions League is an incredible achievement. European football is already guaranteed, yet three competitions remain within our grasp.
We are now dependent on other results going our way for the Champions League, but back in August everybody would have bitten your hand off for the choice of the Uefa Conference League or, if we win our final game against Chelsea, the Europa League.
This group of players have given everything to the cause, the manager has expertly guided and strategised along the way, and the club has backed and ed as best they can. Sometimes, and in Nottingham Forest's case very rarely, everything comes together just at the right time - a happy accident of recruitment or pure genius? Probably somewhere in between.
A team of often overlooked, occasionally forgotten about, even rejected players - and the manager himself fits that category - have come together to prove themselves, to prove that this great club still stands for something. For all the money that the Reds have spent since promotion three years ago, the core of our first XI cost little more than the £100m transfer fee Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish.
This season has been physically and mentally draining - for the fans as much as the players - and while FA Cup glory was a step too far, nobody should overlook the progress made in the past year. As the tattoo on owner Evangelos Marinakis's arm reads: Dream, Love, Create, Fight, Survive, Win. A battle call for Sunday if there ever was one.
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Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League match between West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
Here are some of your comments:
West Ham fans
Mark: Sack the board, manager and all the players - woeful display.
Steve: Same old West Ham, a season to forget. Too slow and negative in the build-up and really not got going after Forest scored their second goal. So much money spent on average players, aside from Wan-Bissaka, although there are a couple of hopeful names like Guilherme and Summerville who look promising.
Peter: Thank goodness the season is over and we can put it behind us, get a complete makeover and claw our way back to where we belong.
Forest fans
Callum: Nottingham Forest played well - we really needed that win! Here's hoping we can get a win next week against Chelsea at home, I look forward to being there at the world famous City Ground cheering them on! YOUUUUU REEEEDS!
Ben: It is a simple formula for Forest: score first, and you win. And so it proved. A dogged performance from them (despite a late wobble) gives us the final day showdown we were all hoping for. Now if one of the other contenders could play their part and lose then we can all finish the season happy!
John: Phew! When the second goal was finally confirmed that should have been it. But substitutions, indiscipline, VAR and a brilliant volley from Bowen made for a very nervy extra time but, Forest held on to do the double over a questionable West Ham. Too busy bringing their kids on beforehand after beating Manchester United to really get anywhere in this game.
Image source, Getty ImagesNottingham Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White says the team are ready to fight until the very end for a Champions League spot.
It is all to play for on the final day of the season when Forest host Chelsea, with the result deciding who could finish fifth.
"We've made it difficult for ourselves from where we were but we are going to fight until the end," said Gibbs-White. "We're at home, the City Ground is going to be rocking and we'll need the fans.
"We will plan this week how we're going to go into the game but we will be fighting."
Chelsea are one of three teams on 66 points, alongside Newcastle and Aston Villa, with Manchester City and Nottingham Forest on 65 points.
Five English sides will qualify for the Champions League through the league, up from the usual four, with an extra place secured because of positive results by Premier League clubs in Europe this season.
Chelsea know a win would be enough to secure qualification, but Forest need to beat the Blues and hope at least one team above them slips up if they are to grab a spot in Europe's elite competition.
Match of the Day 2 pundits have been having their say on the race for the Champions League.
Danny Murphy expects Newcastle to be "fine", adding: "At home to Everton, I would say so with those fans behind them.
"Manchester City have got it all in their own hands with that extra game. Bournemouth and Fulham - not easy games but I'd tip them as well.
"If you look around the dressing room and you look at the manager, they're just the best in their class. If they don't have the resilience and fortitude to get through those games then there is a real question mark. They should beat Bournemouth and Fulham nine out of 10 times when they need to."
"That Chelsea-Forest game next week is the pick of the bunch. That's going to be one hell of an atmosphere down there."
Martin Keown said: "I think Forest have been magnificent this year - a breath of fresh air to see how they've performed. It's looking tough for them right now. They just had a little blip at the wrong time but they can't have any regrets to the way they've played this season.
"I think Man City will have enough to get there and so will Aston Villa as well."
Which way will it go? Read more and hear from the managers
Highlights and analysis from Sunday's five Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.
If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.
And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.
Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:
Saturday 17th May
FA Cup final: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City - 5 LIVE
Sunday 18th May
West Ham 1-2 Nottingham Forest - 5 LIVE
Brentford 2-3 Fulham – SPORTS EXTRA 2
Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle - 5 LIVE
Nottingham Forest are keen to tie down midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 25, and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, 24, to new contracts as soon as possible. (Football Insider), external
Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column
