Nottingham Forest

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

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There are two types of people in the world: those who love Ryan Yates, and those who don't.

The ones who don't are invariably opposition fans — a quick glance at social media on match days says a lot about the midfielder's ability to rile those on and off the pitch. But it wasn't always so.

A much-maligned player for most of his career, the 26-year-old finally won over most of the fan base this season as Nottingham Forest were transformed from relegation battlers to top four contenders.

Yates' ability to win a foul is a beautiful thing. His bravery to put his body on the line is something to admire. And his all-round involvement in any game is obvious for all to see.

There have been times when Forest lacked leaders, and at the moment we seem to have them in spades, but Yates is the one who truly relishes the role of leading the team out of the tunnel.

Having joined Forest as an eight-year-old, his association with the club goes back nearly 20 years now, and continues the Reds' remarkable record of a youth graduate being in every matchday squad since October 1941.

Yates, of course, is not here for historical purposes. Having played and scored in the top five divisions of English football, he's been selected by every manager since he broke into the first team in 2019. And it's notable this season that his game is still progressing, perhaps influenced by the influx of talented signings in recent years.

With the run in of games now, Yates' presence will no doubt continue to alternate with Nico Dominguez — the return of the injured Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare still to come — but his dedication and passion on the pitch will remain a source of pride for Forest fans; and a thorn in the side of opposition teams.

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Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Nottingham Forest have made an approach for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa.

The Bees value Wissa at far beyond the £22m reportedly offered by the Reds.

BBC Sport can confirm the approach with Forest targeting competition for in-form striker Chris Wood, who has 14 goals in the Premier League this season, as they look to maintain their surprise Champions League challenge.

Forest are third in the Premier League after Sunday's 3-2 win over Southampton.

Wissa, who has 11 goals in 19 Premier League matches this season, is highly valued in west London and has proven a worthy successor to Ivan Toney.

The Bees will not accept bids in the £22m price range Forest have reportedly offered, despite the 28-year-old having just 18 months to run on his current contract.

Meanwhile, Brentford are interested in Fiorentina defender Michael Kayode. The 20-year-old Italian is being looked at to fill a problem position this season at full-back for Thomas Frank.

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Southampton.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans:

Sean: Concerning injury to Hudson-Odoi, but otherwise business as usual. Clinical in the first half, let Southampton back into it in the second, but held out defensively once again. Plenty of Forest fans checking their passports, and why not?

Tom: Typical Forest. Get to 3-0 by half-time and then mess about. Nearly paid for not killing it off. Aina made a crucial goalline clearance. Injury time was agony.

John: This should never have been the final score. Forest were so far ahead in performance and score by half-time it was almost embarrassing. Southampton's first was an dodgy own goal and with two awful offside decisions by VAR and Anthony Taylor at both ends - both against Forest - it somehow ended 3-2. A travesty given the difference between the sides, performance and league position.

John: A quality start turned into a scrappy ending, badly refereed. Nuno could see what Southampton's tactics were and subbed some key players to protect them - but the subs looked worryingly naive. Sels, the back four and Anderson kept us in front. Some great stuff in the first half but the midfield and Awoniyi looked off it in the second.

Southampton fans:

Neil: Southampton the usual mixed bag - attacking intent and good possession coupled with mistakes and major defensive frailty. Players like Bednarek seem to always get away with it, while players who have been good seem to always get subbed off. Could it be time to give Bella-Kotchap some minutes on the pitch? Or maybe we need to go back to 4-4-2 so that our midfield is less easy to slice through?

David: Let's fast forward to the last part of the match. This was like the Benjamin Button movie. The players fought tooth and nail and did not give up. An observation: Armstrong, Archer and Downes do not have the Sulemana effect that the manager has created. Silly individual errors are costing us severely.

David: At last some determination shown by Saints after some (again) silly mistakes in the first half. Two goals conceded in the same corner of the goal, and a fumble by Ramsdale - Could have been 3-3 if Bednarek's attempt had not been kicked off the line - Saints lost, but at least there was a great effort put in for all those travelling fans.

Ross: Juric may not have the points to show for it, but the team has looked much better since he came in. We just can't sustain it for 90 minutes, whether that's a poor start or a poor end to the match. Chuffed for big tall Paul breaking his duck.

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Are Nottingham Forest in the title race now that they are level on points with Arsenal?

"You have to say they are," said former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily podcast. "You don't get there by luck so what they are doing is fantastic.

"Everyone thought the same thing about Leicester, in the sense that they wouldn't win it and then they made excuses after for not backing them.

"Liverpool are leading the way but Forest are consistent in their performances week in and week out.

"They are getting results over the line, playing to their strengths and showing greater resilience than Arsenal. The difference is that Forest have Chris Wood who is in sensational form and is scoring goals.

"They are in the race."

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Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brentford 0-2 Liverpool

• Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal

• Everton 3-2 Tottenham

• Man Utd 1-3 Brighton

• Ipswich 0-6 Man City

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Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo to BBC Match of the Day after today's game: "This a very tough league. The second half, we started really well and controlled the game but then there was the deflection and stoppages. The game didn't flow and that did not help us."

On disallowed goal: "They are clear with the rules. They judge it and we have to accept it. The game is never over. Every team competes well. Southampton competed well.

"We have to give credit to our opponent. They are 3-0 at half-time and they have this reaction, we have to credit this."

On Elliot Anderson: "I think Elliot is doing amazing and achieved a beautiful goal."

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport Journalist

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In the end, Nottingham Forest's first-half performance was enough to continue their superb form.

A seventh win in eight games keeps them on course for European football next season at the very least.

In many ways the game was typical Forest. They were clinical in taking advantage of mistakes and playing on the counter attack in the first half.

Their scrambling defence in the closing moments was also reminiscent of the draw against Liverpool on Tuesday.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo will have wished for an easier finish. Stress-free finales will help preserve energy in the latter part of the season.

That, though, is a worry for another day. At the moment anything looks possible.

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Nottingham Forest goalscorer Elliot Anderson has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after today's victory: "We started really bright but made it hard for ourselves in the second half. Ultimately we got the three points and I'm really happy.

"We set out to attack both games with the same mentality. Southampton were really good midweek against Manchester United so we knew it was going to be hard for us. I've been working hard for that and the lads have been telling me to shoot. When I got space I thought I'd just bang it.

"The manager said it's always hard when you've got something to lose. We needed those three points because there are teams creeping up behind us."

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In their 22 Premier League games this season, Nottingham Forest have gone 1-0 up in 18 of them. Across the competition's history, only Manchester City in 2011-12 and 2018-19 have ever done so more in their opening 22 matches of a campaign (both 19).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Nottingham Forest's performance

What did you make of Southampton's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

There are four Premier League fixtures on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you all the action.

• Everton v Tottenham

• Man Utd v Brighton - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Nottingham Forest v Southampton

• Ipswich v Manchester City (16:30) - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Southampton put up a decent fight against Manchester United but Tyler Dibling went off with an ankle injury in the second half and if he is missing here then that is a massive blow.

Let's face it, it is going to be hard for Saints even if Dibling does play. Forest are playing so well and Chris Wood keeps on scoring, so this should be a routine home win for them.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Sarah Rendell
BBC Sport journalist

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Southampton (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Nuno said the squad is "healthy" after the Liverpool game on Tuesday while injured Danilo is "coming back" and Ibrahim Sangare is "getting closer".

• On if the players were disappointed they could not hold out for victory against the league leaders: "They were tired but are recovering now. It was a very intense game. We played good and competed very well. Now is the moment to recover."

• On the form of goalkeeper Matz Sels: "It was a huge, huge performance [against Liverpool]. Matz is in a good moment and his confidence [is great]. He has been able to, game after game, keep us in them with his saves. We are delighted and hope he continues."

• On Southampton: "I think they competed very well yesterday [against Manchester United]. We watched the game and we analysed. That shows credit to them in the position they are and being able to compete. You can see their intensity. We expect a very tough game on Sunday."

• Therefore, he is not taking the game lightly, despite the switch from playing first in the league to facing bottom of the table: "A totally different test for us. Different players, different team and different shape. Equally, it will be challenging and difficult. Nothing changes in our approach."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Chris Wood and Nottingham Forest are both enjoying a standout season.

The 33-year-old's 13 Premier league goals so far have been key in Nuno Espirito Santo's side maintaining their push for a Champions League finish - and maybe beyond?

In fact, Wood's has scored 43.3% of the 30 his side has managed thus far - the biggest share of a team's goals scored one player in the division. He leads Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak in this metric.

Forest's tally of 30 is the lowest in the top half, yet they sit third. Each goal scored by Wood is made more valuable by his team relying on fewer goals to secure results.

But how sustainable is this fine goalscoring form?

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Wood has scored 13 goals by mid-January. He has only twice scored more across an entire campaign - 14 in both 2019-20 while playing for Burnley and last season for Forest.

They have come from an expected goals [xG] of 7.4 - a considerable overperformance of 5.6.

In only three seasons of the 10 Premier League seasons Wood has been involved in has he finished with an xG overperformance - by 3 in 2017-18, by 2.1 in 2023-24 and by 1.2 in 2018-19. So, he is currently well on track for his most clinical and most proficient top-flight campaign

Only Brentford's Bryan Mbuemo [6.4] has overperformed his xG by more than Wood with Wolves' Matheus Cunha also overperforming by 5.6.

While there is nothing to indicate his numbers will falter, the unusual nature of Wood's xG overperformance would indicate Forest need to find another source of goals to ensure they can continue to thrive should he suffer a dip in form or injury.

With back-up striker Taiwo Awoniyi linked with a January move, will owner Evangelos Marinakis look to the market to bolster Nuno's attacking options or do solutions exist within the current squad?

*All stats provided by Opta

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Former Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw says current top scorer Chris Wood remains "underrated" despite his incredible form this season.

Speaking on the latest episode of BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, Earnshaw, who scored over 40 goals for the club, said: "Chris Wood has been on fire - he's having a hell of a season!

"I love what he's doing. I'm always analysing games and as a forward, how he does it, where he does it and how he scores his goals.

"Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do on a football pitch but he's doing everything so, so well. The quality in and around him is brilliant, he's got great technique and he's underrated. His finishing is brilliant.

With Forest riding high in the Premier League, Earnshaw has encouraged his old side to enjoy the moment and use it as motivation to keep performance levels high.

"They need to start wanting more," he said. "What they've built so far, they have to be thinking: 'Thank you very much - this is brilliant!'

"I would have loved this, with all the cameras and all the media coming to watch. I would want this all the time. This happens because they're doing well. The attention is nice. It's a privilege - they've got to be wanting more of that."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

West Ham are considering a move for 27-year-old Nottingham Forest and Nigeria striker Taiwo Awoniyi. (Florian Plettenberg, Sky Germany), external

Forest will target Brentford and DR Congo striker Yoane Wissa if Awoniyi leaves the club this month. (Telegraph), external

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