Joseph Chapman, Nottinghamshire Live: How Forest will approach Premier League opener against Brentford | OneFootball

Nottinghamshire Live’s Joseph Chapman has explained how Nuno Espírito Santo is likely to set up his Nottingham Forest side for Sunday’s Premier League opener against Brentford.

Forest enjoyed a highly impressive 2024/25 campaign, finishing seventh and qualifying for the Europa League. Chapman has highlighted Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White as two players the Bees must be wary of during Keith Andrews’ first competitive game in charge.

How did Nottingham Forest's pre-season go?

They scored one goal in seven games - and that was in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Fulham in Portugal, which they lost 3-1.

Other than that, they lost 1-0 at Birmingham in a game that was dedicated to Trevor Francis, then the other five games all ended 0-0.

While Forest have been pretty frugal in front of goal, they have definitely been as solid defensively as they were at times last year.

But you cannot escape the fact pre-season is there for a reason; to find your shooting boots, to sharpen the strikers up. Chris Wood got the one goal but, other than that, it was pretty difficult.

That said, I thought against Al Qadsiah last Saturday evening they did everything but score. They did create chances, certainly in the first half, and they just needed that one moment where maybe it falls the other side of the post.

A few of the players were speaking to me in the mixed zone after the last two pre-season games about the goal situation and there was a consensus that it will click once the real stuff begins.

The club have made four new signings at the time of speaking and more are reportedly on the way before the window closes. What have you made of their business so far and what do you think they still need to do?

Forest have been very, very clever previously in the South American market and tapping into that - and they have done so again this summer.

They have brought in Igor Jesus, who is a centre-forward, but played just off Chris Wood in the two games I saw in the last week of pre-season at the City Ground.

He looks a real talent, but he is still finding his feet and he was the player that could have scored a couple of the goals on Saturday.

They have also signed Jair Cunha, who is huge! He makes Nikola Milenković look quite slight - he is a big, big guy. He is a centre-half and I think he will be more cover for centre-half, though he did get minutes at right-back.

Then they have signed Dan Ndoye, practically putting the Anthony Elanga money back into the first-team squad straight away. Ndoye is a Swiss international who played in the Champions League with Bologna last season. He is very, very quick, so it looks a real like-for-like replacement.

Once Ndoye hits the Premier League and the real stuff begins in Europe, I think he is going to be a real talent, a real threat to opposing defences on the right-hand side.

There were signs, I thought, throughout the course of the last game when Ola Aina played behind him, that there was a little bit of a relationship forming on the right-hand side, which is akin to what they have got on the other side with Nico Williams and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who interwove throughout the game. Their knowledge of each other is already really established.

Clearly Forest need to do more because they are going to have more games and a more congested schedule. I think that will come, certainly with the news they are going to be playing in the Europa League.

With that comes more effort required, but also more money as well, so it would not surprise me at all if they pushed the boat out and signed another three or four players before Deadline Day.

How much are Forest fans looking forward to being back in Europe after so long?

It's huge. The Europa League is a very prestigious competition, and I think they could go really well actually.

They have got a really, really talented core of their squad. After the furore of a few years ago, with all the craziness in terms of the number of signings, they have actually accrued some real quality, like Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, Ola Aina, Neco Williams, Murillo, Nikola Milenković, Matz Sels in goal. They have squeezed the pips out of Chris Wood in the last couple of years.

At this point now, it is about adding to it. Where you lose Elanga and you do good business and you make three or four times what you pay for them, I imagine they will try and do the same now with Ndoye and hope that Callum Hudson-Odoi can go to another level again and just make sure the next two or three players off the rank, in terms of substitutions, when Nuno Espírito Santo needs them, are of the same level.

They have got so much in place already that there is nothing to fear with the Europa League. They can tackle it head-on and enjoy the Premier League.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for?

Based on what I saw last Saturday, Hudson-Odoi looked eye-catchingly sharp.

He is obviously a very talented player anyway and he is somebody who might have achieved more before now. If he had done, then he would probably be established in the Chelsea first team, but we all know what Chelsea are like in terms of the way that they get through players.

He seems to have found a home at Forest and certainly last year I thought he was very good for large portions of the season. With Elanga gone and Ndoye needing a little bit of time just to bed in, there might be a bit more emphasis on Hudson-Odoi being prominent in producing opportunities for Jesus and Wood.

Gibbs-White is a player who, it goes without saying, you have got to keep an eye on if you are Brentford and Keith Andrews.

He is a talisman, responsible for 15 goal contributions in the Premier League last year. It was a huge fillip for the club that they were able to keep him and sign him up to a new contract.

But what I saw in pre-season last Saturday - when Gibbs-White was absent - is that Hudson-Odoi was very sharp and created a few chances, showed a great turn of pace on the left-hand side. He has got a really good understanding with Neco Williams behind him.

If Hudson-Odoi can take portions of his performance on Saturday into Sunday's game, then he is going to be a real threat.

What should Keith Andrews’ players expect in terms of shape and style?

They are pretty settled really in a 4-2-3-1.

The introduction of Jesus is quite interesting because he is somebody who you could see being utilised as a striker and they could end up being 4-4-2 when they are in attack, then he drops a little bit deeper, just behind Wood, when they are out of possession. That is the way they were playing previously.

I would expect them to play: Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenković, Williams, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus, Wood.

It is a style on 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 - one of those combinations. I do not see them veering away from what they were doing last season.

It's a bit of a stab in the dark on the opening day, but what's your score prediction?

I will say 2-1 to Forest.