Football Season Guide

In a season where they completely changed their squad by signing as many as 30 players, Nottingham Forest managed to secure 16th spot and avoided relegation. They were very solid on home soil, where they recorded just five defeats and scored 27 of their 38 goals. However, Forest were they worst away team last team, picking up just eight points as they secured only one win on the road in 2022/23. President Evangelos Marinakis decided to shift the club’s transfer policy this summer. Forest released several players and let loanees Keylor Navas, Renan Lodi and Dean Henderson depart the club. Their only signing for the time being is prodigious forward Anthony Elanga, who joined from Manchester United, as coach Steve Cooper is trying to make the most of the current squad. Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath returned from his impressive loan spell at Luton, but it remains to be seen who is going to start in goal next season after the departures of Navas and Henderson. Left-back Ola Aina joined on a free transfer after leaving Torino and he is expected to take Lodi’s place in the starting XI, while starting forward Brennan Johnson could leave the club in their bid to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules. Nottingham’s main strength lies in the team’s home support. Having lost just five times on home soil, the City Ground hosted wins over Liverpool and title contender Arsenal, as well as some brilliant Forest performances last season, and Cooper will expect to build on that. They may not have paid for their poor form away from home last season, but Forest need to find a solution for that if they want to avoid relegation for the second time in a row. No team scored fewer and no Premier League side conceded more goals than Nottingham on the road.