Nuno’s relentless Forest are displaying traits of genuine top-four contenders

Since earning promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, Nottingham Forest have spent more time looking over their shoulders in the hope of avoiding relegation than they have climbing towards a spot in the Champions League. 

The East Midlanders have finished 16th and 17th in their respective campaigns since reintegrating back into the country’s top-flight after a 23-year absence following their relegation to the second tier way back in 1999, with their names constantly never too far from the relegation picture. However, times are changing at the City Ground and under Nuno Espirito Santo, they appear to be cooking on gas. 

Forest currently sit fourth in the Premier League and have taken 28 points from their 16 games to date. They have lost only four matches in the league and conceded just 19 goals in that timeframe, not to mention the fact that they have been the only side to inflict defeat on emphatic league leaders Liverpool so far. 

So what exactly has changed this time out? Well, the form of Chris Wood is a major factor. The New Zealand international has been a Premier League stalwart during the last eight years, finding the net for the likes of Burnley, Newcastle and his current employers, whom he joined in January 2023 initially on loan – a move that was made permanent in the summer. Since his arrival, he has emerged as one of the division’s most consistent goal threats, quietly going about his business and elevating this Forest side to new heights. 

Wood has scored 25 goals in 54 Premier League appearances in red and white – averaging just under a goal every other game. Last season he finished the campaign with his best career return in the top-flight with 14 goals in 31 PL appearances, helping Forest avoid relegation, and this season he is only four behind that tally on 10 in just 16 games, as the club continue to disrupt the status quo towards the upper echelons of the division in a bid to secure a return to European football for the first time since the glory days of the late-70s and 80s. 

Wood’s scintillating form isn’t the only reason Forest are performing so well though. There appears to be a shift in mental fortitude about this particular group which has seen them over the line on several occasions this term. This was highlighted in particular on Saturday evening, when they beat Aston Villa despite being 1-0 down after 86 minutes – the latest they’ve ever trailed in a Premier League game they’ve gone on to win (source: premierleague.com).

Amazingly, it was also only their second-ever stoppage-time winning goal in the Premier League and their first since October 1995. Currently sat with 28 points to their name as we head into the festive football frenzy, Forest are enjoying their best top-flight return after 16 matches since the 1994/95 campaign (also 20). They would end that season in third-place…  

There might yet still be a long road ahead, but with just two points separating Forest with third-placed Arsenal, there is no reason why Forest fans can’t genuinely start believing in a return to Europe come the end of the campaign – especially if they can keep finding ways of winning games when the situation starts looking increasingly improbable.