Premier League Preview: Nottingham Forest
Written by ad_wilkin on Friday, 23rd Oct 2026 09:32

Nottingham Forest got through four managers last season (Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vitor Pereira) so when Oliver Glasner announced he was leaving Crystal Palace it was quite a shock that he ended up at Forest. They come into this game really needing a result after three straight defeats.

They currently sit in 19th position but have been unlucky not to have picked up more points. They created more xG than Crystal Palace, Coventry and Leeds and ended up on the wrong end of the scoreline each time, whilst they should also have probably come away with three points from a very positive performance against Liverpool.

Even last week they did well to limit champions Arsenal to a low number of chances and were on the wrong end of a tight 1-0 defeat.

Goalkeepers

Surprisingly, Matz Sels has only been at Nottingham Forest since February 2024 as it feels he has been playing in the Premier League for a lot longer. The 34-year-old is an excellent shot-stopper and comfortable with the ball at his feet but isn't the tallest and can struggle when the ball is put on top of him.

He's reinforced this season by Brazilian John Victor, who was signed last summer from Botafogo, and Steven Benda, who is a perennial third-choice goalkeeper and has spent time at Fulham, Millwall, Swansea and Peterborough.

Defenders

Glasner has stuck with the back three which he favoured at Crystal Palace. With Nikola Milenkovic struggling with a hamstring issue in recent games, new signing from Sporting Lisbon, Ousmane Diomande, has been playing in the central role. The 22-year-old is one of a new generation of talent that is coming out of Côte d'Ivoire and has experience that belies his age.

To the right of him is Jair Cunha, another young defender, in his second season with the club. If he starts at the weekend, he'll have equalled his number of starts from last season.

It's another Brazilian the other side, Murillo, who is still just 24, which gives the Forest backline a very youthful complexion. Murillo has been one of the standout defenders in the Premier League following his move from Corinthians in 2023, bringing not just defensive ability but energy and ball-carrying skill too.

At wing-back, Glasner has raided old club Palace to bring 30-year-old Colombian Daniel Munoz with him after he produced seven goal contributions (four goals and three assists) last season.

He's a very different profile in that role to Ola Aina, who is a superb one-on-one defender, is excellent at reading the game, but is nowhere near as attacking as Munoz. That provides Glasner options and he's also used Aina as a right-sided centre-back this season against both Palace and Aston Villa.

On the other side is Neco Williams. The Welshman, who can play as either a wing-back or a full-back and can operate on either side, has spent most of his recent career on the left despite being right-footed. Such a unique profile is perfect for dealing with the Premier League's tricky right wingers, who often like to cut in onto their left foot.

This season, that left-hand side has also become Forest's main attacking outlet with Williams and Murillo leading the way in terms of completed progressive passes.

Young German Luca Netz is his back-up and Nicolò Savona is on his way back from a long term knee injury and can play at either centre or right-back complete the defensive unit.

Midfielders

Forest's main midfield pairing has been Xaver Schlager and James McAtee. Schlager was signed this summer on a free from RB Leipzig, where he spent four years. An Austrian international, he brings a vast amount of experience with 59 international caps and sits at the base of the midfield.

McAtee, who featured mainly as a 10 during his early career, has been dropped slightly deeper under Glasner to play alongside him. The hope from Glasner is that the young Englishman can emulate Adam Wharton in that deeper role. He has already played 19 passes leading to a shot and sits in fifth place for chances created in the league.

Ibrahim Sangare, Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates are Forest's other central midfield options

Attackers

Given Glasner's use of wing-backs, the midfield ends up forming more of a box than having two natural wingers with Glasner liking two attacking midfielders to play in the half-spaces. This has seen Callum Hudson-Odoi fall out of favour as he doesn't really fit that profile with Morgan Gibbs-White and Dan Ndoye the preferred options so far this season.

Gibbs-White missed Forest's previous game against Arsenal with a knock but is expected to be back for this game, which will provide a boost for the Tricky Trees.

Ndoye is also a big threat and is on a bit of a hot streak with two goals and three assists for his country, Switzerland, over the international break before netting against Crystal Palace.

It’s the top end of the pitch where Forest are struggling. Their five goals so far is the lowest in the Premier League and they are massively underperforming their expected goals.

Igor Jesus is still sidelined with an injury, so it has been former Town man Liam Delap leading the line following his move from Chelsea. He started well with a scorcher against Aston Villa in his third game but was guilty of firing a powerful volley straight at the keeper against Palace. His two yellow cards are currently higher than his one goal scored.

The other striking options are the evergreen Chris Wood and former PSG youngster Arnaud Kalimuendo, who is also able to play in the two spots behind the striker.

Prediction

Forest, Hull and Bournemouth presents a very nice run of games. Town have so far taken advantage of the struggles of Sunderland, Palace and Fulham and if they did manage a fourth victory in a row against their potential relegation rivals it would be a majorly impressive feat. I think this one could be a draw, however. Forest can't keep missing the target forever so I'm going for a 2-2.

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