Nottingham Forest ended a five-match winless run and their City Ground goal drought on Saturday night with an invigorating win over Manchester City.

For Enzo Maresca’s error-prone side, it’s now three Premier League losses in a row – and they’re suddenly six points behind leaders Arsenal.

Here are our Scout Notes from the Tricky Trees’ 3-1 win.

• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 10: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
• READ MORE: FPL notes: Arteta’s plan for Saliba, Rice “fine” + Belloumi injury
• READ MORE: FPL notes: Barry haul + Thomas injury latest

FOREST BOUNCE BACK

City probably wish Oliver Glasner hadn’t hit his ‘Buckaroo’ moment after Gameweek 9, as everyone associated with Forest, from the fans on the terraces to the players on the pitch, seemed fired up by the Austrian’s rallying call.

Players who had struggled in recent weeks, such as Nikola Milenkovic (£5.4m) and Murillo (£5.5m), responded with heroic displays. A first start of the season for club captain Ryan Yates (£4.4m), who gave a rousing pre-match speech, also turned out to be an inspired decision.

“I think from the first second, everybody could feel the passion today and the commitment the team had.” – Oliver Glasner

Still, there was some irony that, after us (and Glasner) banging on all season about how Forest’s underlying numbers are actually really good and that profligacy was more to blame, they chose a match in which they had just 22% possession and were outperformed on the xG front to turn the corner.

While the added desire to run, scrap and block was key, there was as much debt owed to Liam Delap (£5.3m) simply finding his shooting boots. Two fierce, clean hits of the ball ended a five-game goal drought, after weeks of wastefulness up top.

The question is: can Forest build on this? Everything seemed to come together on Saturday, from the conditions (floodlit, misty, atmospheric) and the hyped-up united front to the unusually dead-eyed finishing.

It’s also worth saying that the Tricky Trees have been at their best against the so-called ‘better teams’. They’ve beaten Villa and City, and drawn against Liverpool at Anfield; it’s the Coventrys and Ipswichs that have been more of a problem. A central midfield of Yates and Xaver Schlager (£5.0m) might be ideal against Erling Haaland (£15.8m) and co, for instance, but does it have enough ingenuity to bypass a parked bus?

It’s a question that can wait till Gameweek 13, perhaps, as two trickier matches await next:

HAALAND + CITY DON’T STRUGGLE FOR CHANCES – BUT DEFENSIVE SIDE CONTINUES TO CAUSE CONCERN

Much like in the losses to Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion, City did have their chances.

Twice, you were expecting the net to bulge when the ball fell to Haaland in the box. One shot was hacked off the line, the other flew narrowly over.

Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) also wasted a glorious headed opportunity, while substitute Nico O’Reilly (£6.2m) almost nodded in after the break. Rayan Cherki (£7.9m) did eventually convert, lashing in a superb effort from the edge of the box. Cherki – his usual mix of brilliance and ball loss – even lasted 90 minutes for just the second time in 2026/27.

It wasn’t vintage attacking stuff, and they ought to have created more after pegging Forest back to 2-1, but there was enough there to suggest the attack isn’t the main problem.

Above: Erling Haaland topped the shot count at the City Ground, while Enzo Fernandez led the way for xG

A lot of the question marks are at the other end of the pitch. Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.5m) has lost his mojo, and he should have reacted quicker to Delap’s first. Josko Gvardiol (£5.7m) had yet another stinker at left-back, gifting the ball to Jair Cunha (£4.4m), who danced through to score, for the opener. Marc Guehi (£6.0m) has been out of sorts, too, although he wasn’t the worst culprit by any means on his return to the Premier League XI.

It’s not just the defence, though. City’s lack of a natural ‘six’ in Maresca’s patented 3-1-6 build-up often leaves Elliot Anderson (£6.3m) as the ‘Jon Snow against House Bolton’ on transitions. That’s problematic – and worse, Maresca doesn’t even seem to see it as an issue.

“It’s not a matter about three or four [at the back in the build-up]. It’s a matter of winning duels. That is the first thing that you have to do in these kinds of games.” – Enzo Maresca

GVARDIOL + GUEHI INJURIES

Gvardiol and Guehi were both hooked at the break, but Maresca claimed both substitutions were enforced.

“Both injuries, both asked for change. Marc injury. Josko Gvardiol had some issues already during the week. So, it was just because they had problems.” – Enzo Maresca

GIBBS-WHITE GETS HIS REWARD – AND PLAYS THROUGH PAIN BARRIER

Someone else who looked like they were struggling at times, but who lasted the course, was Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.8m).

“What impressed me most today in Morgan’s performance was how hard he worked, because once in the second half, he had some pain – I don’t know, ankle, knee or everywhere! – and they asked him, I think, five times: ‘Can you continue?’ And he always raised his thumb and kept going, continued, running back, supporting, doubling up against Ndiaye, playing forward, running forward, running back. And how he also pushed the team. So, that’s what impressed me most.” – Oliver Glasner on Morgan Gibbs-White

Gibbs-White has been named in the England squad, so we’ll soon find out if there are any lingering fitness worries with him (ie if he pulls out).

After weeks of frustration, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man finally got some reward with the assist for Delap’s second.

ADVANCED ROLE FOR MCATEE – AND CAN £5.3M DELAP KICK ON?

Delap is down to a bargain £5.3m in FPL at present. There isn’t a single cheaper forward out there who started in Gameweek 10, in fact.

But let’s be honest, few Fantasy managers were looking at him before Saturday’s brace. We’re not exactly starved of other in-form forwards (even cheap ones) at present, either, so perhaps we can give the 23-year-old more assessment before declaring him back to the levels he displayed as a budget gem in 2024/25. Certainly, his expected numbers (230.2 mins per xG) are way off those that Thierno Barry (£5.7m) is posting (115.7).

Glasner had sage words to say after full-time, in advice that could equally apply to kneejerk FPL transfers…

“I don’t like this. You know, after one big game, ‘You should play for England’. And then, after a bad game, ‘You don’t deserve to play’. We are so, so quick in praising somebody as the best player, and then we drop him after two bad performances.

“He still has a lot to improve. Definitely not his finishing with left and right, but he has to improve his heading, he has to improve his movements in the box, he has to improve his understanding what we’re doing out of possession. But also, very honestly, he did very well today.” – Oliver Glasner on Liam Delap

Elsewhere on Forest-watch, James McAtee (£5.5m) moved from central midfield to right-sided 10. He could/should have scored, too, from a Gibbs-White pull-back.

It did sound like more of a horses-for-courses selection, however.

“I decided to have James McAtee a little bit higher because they have Doku on the wing and you always need to double up against Doku. I don’t know any defender who can defend him one v one. And then here, James McAtee, he’s one of our best players, so it was a little bit tactically but it was especially his mentality and his character.” – Oliver Glasner

It also means it’s premature to be proclaiming the £4.4m Yates a viable, fifth-midfielder bench-fodder option.