1 week Ago By [email protected] (Sarah Clapson)
Key absences proved costly for Nottingham Forest at Wembley, but team selection should be more straightforward for head coach Nuno Espirito Santo this week. The Portuguese admitted it had not been easy to pick his starting XI to face Manchester City in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final. He was short of full-backs due to Ola Aina being injured and Neco Williams being suspended, while midfielder Ryan Yates was also banned for the game.
It resulted in something of a makeshift Reds line-up with some players having to play out of position and Anthony Elanga being left on the bench. When the winger then came on for the second half and helped to change the momentum, it led to Nuno facing questions over whether he regretted leaving the Sweden international out. “It was not easy to put the team together.
But I was not sure if Anthony could play right-back,” he responded. The weekend did not play out as Forest hoped but they must quickly put their disappointment behind them. How they respond to Sunday’s 2-0 defeat will go a long way to determining where they finish in the Premier League table.
They host Brentford at the City Ground on Thursday (7.30pm kick-off) knowing victory would take them back up to third spot. The battle for Champions League qualification remains incredibly close and that makes for a huge game.
There remains a question mark over Aina. Nuno has consistently said the Nigeria international’s calf problem is being assessed on a “day by day” basis but the Reds are hopeful he will feature again before the end of the season. A fully-fit Aina would be a certain starter as he has been sorely missed in his absence.
Since being handed his chance against Tottenham Hotspur, though, Harry Toffolo has proved to be a more than capable deputy at left-back. Williams being available again means the Welshman can take up the right-back spot if Aina is ruled out. Forest would then have something more akin to a balanced back four.
With the defence sorted, that leaves room for Nuno to go with his strongest line-up across the rest of the pitch. Given there is so much at stake, both Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi surely have to start against the Bees. We have produced a special 48-page edition of the Nottingham Post celebrating the club’s two European Cup wins.
Nottingham Forest are flying high in the Premier League and Reds fans are dreaming of a return to European competition. It has been an outstanding campaign for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, who are on course for a place in the Champions League next season. And Forest supporters can whet their appetite for a possible return to football’s top tier on the continent with our 48-page special edition celebrating the club’s two European Cup wins.
Buy now and have it delivered directly to your door. Alternatively you can purchase in most supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents in Nottinghamshire from April, 2 2025. For online order postage and packaging applies, orders will be posted from April 2, 2025.
It might well be that Nuno is still having to manage Elanga somewhat after he recently picked up a knock. However, it would make sense to go all-out for Thursday’s game from the off and look to get a result wrapped up. Assuming Nuno opts for his tried and trusted 4-2-3-1 formation, that would just leave a decision to be made over who should start in midfield.
Danilo didn’t exactly press his case to keep his place as the Brazilian put in a below-par display under the arch, but he shouldn’t be written off entirely and is still capable of doing a job. An argument could be made for starting Yates against Brentford as there is no question the club captain would be up for the big occasion. However, it is difficult to look beyond what has generally been an effective partnership between Elliot Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez if Nuno opts to go with his best available XI.
Forest predicted XI to face Brentford: Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Toffolo; Dominguez, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood..
