Nottingham Forest have now scored just two goals in their last seven Premier League games at the City Ground. They have failed to score in five of their last six league outings on the banks of the Trent. The nervous, edgy atmosphere that at times lingered around the stadium during their goalless draw with Fulham on Sunday was easy to understand.
Forest’s biggest problem is also painfully simple to identify. Solving it might be more complicated, but if Vitor Pereira is to keep the club in the Premier League, he must find a way to get them scoring again.
This was the 14th occasion in 30 top-flight games this season, under four different managers, in which they have not found the net. The faces might change in the dugout, but the core issue remains the same.
The crossbar, the tip of Dan Ndoye’s heel being adjudged to be offside, and a familiar brand of wasteful finishing all combined, in frustrating fashion, to ensure one more blank was added to that tally in this 0-0 draw with Fulham.
It would not have been an injustice had Forest secured their first Premier League win of Pereira’s tenure, but a draw was enough to lift them above West Ham United and out of the relegation zone. It was certainly not an afternoon without positives. Forest were not lacking in spirit, drive or commitment. They just lacked the killer touch when they needed it most.
Pereira offering encouragement on the touchline (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Ola Aina was unlucky to see a spectacular dipping effort bounce back off the bar. Ndoye thought he had won a penalty before being flagged offside, and subsequently believed he had scored before a long-winded VAR check eventually decided that he had been in an offside position by a margin of no more than an inch or two. The merits — or otherwise — of VAR is a topic for another day.
But could-haves, should-haves and would-haves are not going to keep Forest out of the Championship. Only goals will.
The warning signs were there in pre-season, when Nuno Espirito Santo’s side scored only once in seven friendly games at a time when the man who had led them to a seventh-placed finish last season had begun to talk his way out of the exit door, by voicing his concerns about recruitment in public fashion.
But this, barring two players, was also basically the same starting XI that was threatening to qualify for the Champions League this time last year.
The departure of Anthony Elanga in a £52million ($70.7m) move to Newcastle, and the absence of Chris Wood through a knee injury, has unquestionably left a significant void.
The fact that Wood is Forest’s joint-third top scorer in the league this season, despite not having played since mid-October, tells a significant story. As does the fact that only two Premier League goals are enough to earn him that status. The incredible brand of finishing that saw him net 20 league goals from an expected goals figure (xG) of 13.35 last season has been badly missed. Now Forest’s xG of 34.44 is well ahead of their actual team tally of 28, which works out at a modest 0.93 goals per game. Only Wolves (22) have scored fewer than Forest in the top flight in 2025-26.
Morgan Gibbs-White is Forest’s top scorer, with eight goals. The next best is Callum Hudson-Odoi, with three.
Equally, Forest have not properly replaced the explosive brand of pace that Elanga brought to this side. The Sweden international contributed 11 Premier League assists last season and nine in 2023-2024. Nuno knew the impact Elanga had on opposition sides, who were constantly on the back foot in the knowledge of what he was capable of. He understood the merits of selling him for such a significant sum, but wanted to sign Adama Traore as his replacement, as somebody who, while a different player, had the same constant threat of pure speed.
But the absence of two players should not have had this big an impact. That is itself a reflection of the quality of the club’s recruitment since.
The 13 players signed in a £200m summer recruitment campaign have contributed six goals between them. Two of those are from defender Nicolo Savona. Three of them have already left.
Igor Jesus continues to be a difficult player to properly assess. He has 12 goals in all competitions since joining from Botafogo. He has properly looked the part in the Europa League, where he has netted seven times. He is fundamentally a good player. He possesses industry, work rate, and desire, but the Brazilian has not made the same impact in the league, where he has netted only twice.
He was one of two strikers Forest signed last summer, with Arnaud Kalimuendo ushered out of the exit on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt during Sean Dyche’s tenure, with the then manager having been unimpressed by his performance levels in training. Kalimuendo — who cost £26m when he signed from Rennes in August — scored the winning goal for Frankfurt this weekend, in a 1-0 win over Heidenheim. It was his third goal in 10 appearances in Germany.
Forest have a goal disallowed against Fulham (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
His replacement, Lorenzo Lucca, the man signed on loan from Napoli in January with the hope that he would provide the answer to Forest’s goalscoring problem, cannot even convince Pereira that he is worthy of a place on the bench. The giant Italian scored on his debut as a substitute at Leeds, but has offered little since.
“You need to deserve what you get; what you have got in your life. It is not about quality, because he has quality. But, in this moment, in my opinion, Taiwo (Awoniyi) deserved to play,” said Pereira, when asked about Lucca’s absence from the squad.
While it is hoped that Wood will return for the final five or six games, in the meantime, there is a certain romance to the thought that Forest could turn to a man who had a key role to play in their survival in their first two seasons back in the top flight after 2022’s promotion, in Awoniyi — particularly given he was fighting for his life in May last year, after being put into an induced coma as part of his recovery from a horrific abdominal injury.
He scored 10 vital goals in 2022-2023 and six equally important ones in 2023-2024. The 28-year-old Nigerian missed the target when he battled his way to a second-half stoppage-time chance against Fulham after coming on. “This is about merit, about work, about the spirit,” said Pereira. “In 20 minutes, he created a lot. He is a player who is a fighter. I like this kind of spirit.”
Forest will need that. They also need goals. It would be timely if Awoniyi could once more provide both.