Leeds United beat Nottingham Forest to reach Carabao Cup third round

Leeds United booked their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup as wasteful Nottingham Forest showed why they need to strengthen their attack before the transfer deadline according to BBC Sport. 

Forest have agreed a club-record fee worth around £50m to sign Chelsea striker Liam Delap and boss Oliver Glasner will hope his arrival will kick-start his side’s season after slumping to a second straight defeat without scoring.

Dan James set Leeds, 1-0 winners at Forest on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, on their way to a second win in four days at the City Ground with a composed 50th-minute finish after Sean Longstaff’s pass.

It was deserved reward for the Wales winger who was a real menace all game as he netted his first club goal since April 2025 in a Championship win at Middlesbrough.

But Forest were poor in front of goal. Although Chris Wood was denied an equaliser against his former club by a fine James Trafford save, defenders Ola Aina and Nikola Milenkovic were guilty of wild finishes when the tie was still goalless.

Wood, who scored 41 goals in 83 Championship appearances for Leeds between 2015-17, also found himself clean through on goal in the 30th minute before a fine sliding challenge by Joe Rodon, who celebrated the tackle as though his side had scored.

Trafford was also required to push an attempt by Argentine Nicolas Dominguez over the bar but Leeds, who gave a debut to Switzerland defender Nico Elvedi, doubled their lead in the 75th minute to confirm their place in the third round for the first time in four seasons.

After an Ethan Ampadu throw-in had caused a scramble in the box, Lukas Nmecha tried to bundle the ball over the line, but Neco Williams was there to block it until James Justin pounced to make sure.

While Forest’s main priority this season is staying in the Premier League, going out of the EFL Cup before the end of August will sting.

It is two defeats in two games for new boss Glasner, who gave a debut to Ivory Coast defender Ousmane Diomande, a £34m signing from Sporting.

Forest’s next game is at Liverpool on Saturday (12:30 BST), while Leeds play their first home game of the season against Brentford on Sunday (14:00) after two fine results on the road.