Next up for our 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team previews is Nottingham Forest.
Forest had a tumultuous season, with Nuno Espirito Santo taking over from the much-respected Steve Cooper in December 2023. Finishing 17th in the league, the Tricky Trees will be hoping for a less nail-biting finish to the season this time around.
In these team guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each club for the upcoming campaign. We’ll also take a stab at predicted line-ups for Gameweek 1, review pre-season and more.
The images and stats come from either our Premium Members Area or Statsbomb, with whom we’re partnering in 2024/25.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
There’s a quiet confidence ahead of Nuno’s first full season in charge at Forest.
The importance of a full pre-season with his squad cannot be underestimated after he took over from Cooper at a chaotic time during the middle of a campaign.
Nuno already has solid foundations in place. Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m) impressed last season, producing five goals and 12 assists. Chris Wood (£6.0m) stepped up when Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.0m) was absent, scoring 11 goals in 16 starts under his new boss.
Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.5m) and Anthony Elanga (£5.5m) averaged 5.1 and 4.3 points per game in the Nuno reign.
Expected goals per 90 minutes rose from 0.99 before the former Wolves boss’s arrival to 1.30 after it.
What is less commented upon is Forest’s defensive data. It improved remarkably under Nuno: from his appointment onwards, Forest ranked fourth in the league for lowest xGC (25.44).
Somehow, only one clean sheet was banked.
Perhaps new Serbian centre-back Nikola Milenkovic (£4.5m) can help bridge the gap from strong underlying data to actual shut-outs.
A very strong pre-season from Ibrahim Sangare (£4.5m), pilloried for his performances after his big-money move, has also raised hope that Forest have the top-class defensive shield they paid £30m for.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
Above: Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) v save percentage in 2023/24. GSAA is how many goals did the keeper save/concede versus expectation (post-shot xG faced).
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