Nottingham Forest have been nothing in need of glorious this season. Nuno Espirito Santo’s facet are flying within the Premier League, and presently sit fifth in the table on 47 points, with a six-point distinction between them and fifth-place Manchester Metropolis.
Their facet has been spearheaded by Chris Wooden, who has 17 Premier League goals to his title this time period, and Anthony Elanga, who has eight assists in whole. Morgan Gibbs-White has additionally been glorious, with Jamie Carragher describing his performances as “completely incredible”, explaining he has been a “revelation” for the East Midlands outfit.
One other participant who has impressed this season is midfielder Elliot Anderson.
Elliot Anderson’s 2024/25 marketing campaign
It actually looks like Forest received a incredible cope with Anderson in the summertime switch window. He made the transfer from his boyhood membership Newcastle United to modify to the Metropolis Floor, with Forest paying a fee upwards of £35m.
The 22-year-old has played 23 times for this membership within the high flight thus far this time period and has one aim and 5 assists to his title. A type of assists noticed him impressively create a last-minute winner for Elanga in opposition to Aston Villa to assist his facet to a 2-1 win.
His supervisor, Nuno, was filled with reward for the Forest quantity eight earlier in the season. He described him as “a tremendous expertise for such a younger participant”.
“With Elliot, to begin with, he’s a tremendous expertise for such a younger participant. He’s aggressive and needs to enhance. He is aware of he’s good however desires to be higher. That is step one. We’re delighted to have him. I believe it was an excellent deal.”
Alongside the likes of Gibbs-White in the course of the park, Anderson’s hard-working nature and inventive aptitude have served him nicely in Garibaldi Purple this season. He has actually been an necessary cog within the works on the Metropolis Floor.
Extremely, in addition to he’s taking part in, the 22-year-old is getting outperformed by a former Forest loanee who struggled throughout his time on the membership.
Where Are They Now
Your star participant or largest flop has left the membership however what are they doing within the current day? This text is a part of Soccer FanCast’s The place Are They Now sequence.
The previous Nottingham Forest participant out-performing Anderson
Regardless of their success this season, Forest have had a whole lot of gamers signify the membership since their promotion again to the Premier League in 2022. A type of was Andrey Santos, who struggled to make a mark on the membership.
The Brazilian joined on a season-long mortgage from Chelsea within the 2023/24 marketing campaign however made just two appearances throughout his stint in pink. A type of was within the Premier League, a seven-minute substitute cameo in opposition to Liverpool, and the opposite was a Carabao Cup begin in opposition to Burnley.
This season, the 20-year-old finds himself on mortgage at French facet Strasbourg, Chelsea’s sister membership, the place he has actually impressed in Ligue 1. In 22 games across all competitions, he has eight objectives and three assists, greater than Anderson in each situations.
Somebody who has spoken extremely of Santos this season is Alex Barker, also called Euro Knowledgeable, a content creator for The Athletic. He defined the qualities Santos has might result in him turning into “an elite ball-playing defensive midfielder” within the Premier League, which should go away Forest filled with remorse given the dearth of alternatives they gave him.
There are additionally a number of key metrics via Squawka by which Santos excels over Anderson. Trying particularly at home top-flight soccer this season, the Brazilian has a greater conversion charge in entrance of aim, with 35% in comparison with 10%, and has a greater floor duel win charge, with 68.13% in comparison with 55.4%.
|
Santos vs. Anderson key stats in contrast |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per 90) |
Santos |
Anderson |
|
Non-penalty objectives |
0.4 |
0.1 |
|
Conversion charge |
35% |
10% |
|
Ahead passes |
15.6 |
13.5 |
|
Blocked pictures |
0.5 |
0.3 |
|
Floor duel success charge |
68.13% |
55.4% |
|
Stats from Squawka |
||
On reflection, seeing how nicely Santos is taking part in should be extremely irritating for Forest. Not solely is the Brazilian persevering with to extra objectives than Anderson however he leads the way in which in a number of key metrics.
This isn’t to say Nuno would reasonably have one over the opposite in midfield, however having each within the squad would have been an actual luxurious. Sadly, he now appears out of attain on the Metropolis Floor given how his time there panned out.
Associated
Nottingham Forest and 8 other Premier League surprise packages
The Premier League has had loads of shock packages over the earlier 30 years – listed below are a few of the finest.
