Nottingham Forest’s superb season continued with a sixth straight win, which brought them level on points with second-placed Arsenal.
From a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, it was another points bonanza with 11 different players returning.
Forest can now boast of having the top-scoring goalkeeper, top-scoring defender and third-highest-scoring forward in FPL.
Here are our final Scout Notes of Gameweek 20.
FOREST LEAD THE WAY FOR CLEAN SHEETS
After their fourth consecutive win to nil, Nottingham Forest are now top of the division for clean sheets. Only Arsenal have conceded on fewer occasions in 2024/25.
This actually wasn’t their most convincing of defensive displays. StatsBomb had Forest’s expected goals conceded (xGC) at 1.61, their third-highest of the season.
They were indebted to Matz Sels (£4.9m) for some superb stops from Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.5m) and Rodrigo Gomes (£5.2m). When Sels was beaten, Murillo (£4.6m) was there to block Strand Larsen’s chance from a couple of yards out.
You do wonder if the suspended Matheus Cunha (£7.0m) had been on the end of those chances, whether the result would have been different.
“Matz Sels was very good for us today, he kept us in the game.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
This felt a bit like Forest’s win over Leicester City in October. Uncharacteristically open in the first half, Nuno Espirito Santo – as he did against the Foxes – made tactical tweaks at the interval and shut down the game:
At the other end, typical ruthlessness from a side still only ranked 15th for expected goals (xG) this season.
No one epitomises that clinical streak more than Chris Wood (£6.8m), who here scored his 12th of the campaign. He’s had fewer shots than two-goal Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.4m) in 2024/25 and the same as Georginio Rutter (£5.2m).
Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.4m) and Anthony Elanga (£5.2m) meanwhile combined for the first goal. Gibbs-White now has six attacking returns in as many Gameweeks, Elanga five in five. Both are exceeding their expected goal involvement (xGI) by over +3.0 in that time, which is becoming a bit of a Forest speciality.
Substitutes James Ward-Prowse (£6.2m) and Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) added gloss to the scoreline by combining for the stoppage-time third.
TOUGH RUN UPCOMING
Another points fest for Forest assets, then, with Ola Aina (£5.2m), Wood, Sels et al in demand again in the transfers in column.
It’s perhaps not the best time to be drafting in players from the Tricky Trees anew, however.
A quick look at how Nuno’s troops got on in the reverse fixtures underscores the task at hand:
| Gameweek | Opponent | Forest’s result in reverse fixture |
| 21 | Liverpool | 1-0 win |
| 22 | Southampton | 1-0 win |
| 23 | Bournemouth | 2-2 draw |
| 24 | Brighton | 1-1 draw |
| 25 | Fulham | 0-1 loss |
| 26 | Newcastle | 1-3 loss |
| 27 | Arsenal | 0-3 loss |
| 28 | Man City | 0-3 loss |
On the plus side, it might not be a bad time to be facing Liverpool if you are a Wood owner: the Reds have conceded 11 goals in their last six games. Southampton then follow.
AIT-NOURI AT CENTRE-HALF
We can’t be too hard on Wolves as they were down to the bare bones. Not just deprived of their talisman’s services, they were also without eight other players.
Craig Dawson (£4.3m) and Nelson Semedo (£4.5m) were the latest first-teamers to miss out through injury, while Andre (£5.0m) was absent for family reasons.
Vitor Pereira says he does not believe the injuries to Nelson Semedo and Craig Dawson are serious. He is vague on the timeline, but expects them back soon. #wwfc
— Liam Keen (@LiamKeen_Star) January 6, 2025
It meant that rookie Pedro Lima (£3.9m) made his debut, while natural wing-backs Matt Doherty (£4.3m) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) flanked Santiago Bueno (£4.3m) at centre-half.
“I am proud of the players, I’m proud of them, because they tried everything. I cannot say, ‘You didn’t run, you didn’t try’. I cannot say that. We tried everything to have a different result but you know, short squad, with the problems we faced in midweek, it’s very difficult to be more competitive than today.” – Vitor Pereira
Given the volume of chances created, and with Cunha, injured players and new signings to add to the ranks before Gameweek 21, there is positivity under Pereira – not that many FPL managers will be interested in the upcoming run:
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